Sunderland will be aiming to make it four games without defeat in the Championship when travelling to Huddersfield Town tonight, hoping their hearts aren't left broken by a defeat on Valentine's Day to end a positive sequence of results.

A sensational second-half showing allowed the Black Cats to stroll to victory against Plymouth Argyle last time out, coming out on top as 3-1 victors courtesy of a mad 15-minute flurry of goals.

Although many of the Black Cats players would have walked off at the final whistle overjoyed at their individual displays, one or two might be fearful of the axe by Michael Beale tonight regardless.

One of those could well be Abdoullah Ba, with the tricky 20-year-old midfielder upstaged by Jobe Bellingham coming on in his place and stealing the limelight with a wonderful strike to seal the three points.

Abdoullah Ba's performance vs Plymouth in numbers

Played in an unorthodox central midfield spot versus Plymouth – owing to Patrick Roberts coming back into the first-team picture down the right wing – Ba struggled throughout the game against the Pilgrims before being taken off.

Only managing 24 touches of the ball from a forgettable 65 minutes of the pitch, with Bellingham amassing just six less from far less time on the Stadium of Light turf, Ba also lacked a goalscoring threat throughout with zero shots registered in total at Conor Hazard's goal.

Unsuccessful with his only dribble attempt of the afternoon too, it wasn't a big surprise to see Beale haul the sub-par Sunderland 17 off when he did.

It would prove to be an ingenious switch from Beale, who could look now to start Bellingham ahead of the 20-year-old Frenchman tonight.

The Black Cats manager could also look to surprisingly drop January buy Leo Hjelde from his starting eleven for the trip to West Yorkshire, the ex-Leeds United man struggling at points against Ian Foster's Argyle despite the Wearside outfit eventually coming away with a straightforward win.

Leo Hjelde's performance vs Plymouth in numbers

Slotting straight into the Sunderland first-team mix after signing late on in January, Hjelde could well be sacrificed for tonight's game at the John Smith's Stadium regardless of early good first impressions.

The new Black Cats number 33 was unsure when launching himself into duels in the contest, not using his 6 foot 2 frame to his advantage by only winning a pitiful two duels out of seven attempted.

Minutes played

90

Duels won

2/7

Possession lost

20x

Accurate passes

46/60 (77%)

Accurate long balls

2/9

Successful dribbles

0/1

Stats by Sofascore

Moreover, Hjelde's assuredness on the ball was also lacking as can be seen in the table above – losing possession a grand total of 20 times to the possible detriment of his side, with Hjelde's teammates thankfully picking up the 20-year-old's slack.

It was no surprise, therefore, to see football journalist Andy Tomlinson describe Hjelde's passing on the day as 'erratic' when writing for the Roker Report – despite awarding him a 7/10 match rating – with his position in the first-team potentially up for grabs as a result.

The former Leeds defender could see his spot taken for the Terriers away game by Jenson Seelt, who Beale has relied on to fill in at full-back on occasion this campaign despite being a natural centre-back.

Sunderland will aim to make it two wins on the trot against Huddersfield tonight in the Championship, hoping to lay down a marker as a result that they won't fade away and are serious about staying put in and around the playoffs.