Sunderland centre-back Dan Ballard missed the latter stages of last season and made his return to the Black Cats squad in the 4-2 friendly defeat to Liverpool in Nashville on Saturday evening.
Sunderland centre-back Dan Ballard admitted that it was "good to dust off the cobwebs" against Liverpool in the Black Cats' recent 4-2 friendly defeat in Nashville.
Ballard missed the final three games of Sunderland's season after being given a straight red card in the 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers for a controversial hair-pull offence on Tolu Arokodare.
Unfortunately for the Northern Ireland international, he missed the goalless stalemate against Manchester United, and the wins at Everton and at home to Chelsea on final-day.
However, his suspension at the decisive stage of the season offered the chance to increase the timeline on the defender's ankle surgery, which is why the bruising centre-back was on crutches for Sunderland's Europa League-clinching celebrations on the final game of the season.
Several weeks later, Ballard has now returned to Regis Le Bris' starting XI, with the former Arsenal product enjoying his first minutes in a Sunderland strip for almost two months, in what the defender admitted was a "difficult" test.
Sunderland Defender Dan Ballard Reacts To Liverpool Defeat
Ballard started the Reds clash with his Championship partner-in-crime Luke O'Nien, with the pair helping Sunderland to a 2-1 advantage heading into half-time, before Le Bris brought on the youngsters who failed to maintain the lead.
Particularly for Ballard, the minutes in his legs against Andoni Iraola's side will have been imperative to his pre-season preparations after he missed out on Sunderland's 5-1 friendly win over York City ahead of their three-game USA trip.
After making his first pre-season appearance, Ballard admitted that the searing heat in Nashville made the conditions "difficult" to play in at the GEODIS Park, but that it was a benefit with the Premier League return less than a month away.
On the Liverpool defeat, Ballard told Sunderland's media: "The climate was difficult, but we got what we needed out of the game, and we’ll take a lot of positives from it.
"It’s an important time of the year, and we have to keep building every game now. I haven’t played for a few months, so it was good to dust the cobwebs off.
"We tried to control the ball against a good team, but we have a lot to work on. Liverpool pressed us a lot, so we had to be able to manage that."
Ballard looked back to his best against Liverpool in Tennesse, with the defender enjoying an 88 percent passing accuracy, making two defensive contributions and making three recoveries in his 45-minute cameo.
An element to his game which was particularly impressive, is the muscular defender's improvement with the ball at his feet since Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League, with the centre-back playing four passes into the final third against Liverpool.
At 26-years-old, Ballard is poised to enter the prime stages of his career for Sunderland with top flight action and the Europa League venture on the horizon, and it is crucial for the Black Cats' exploits that the stalwart centre-half stays off the sidelines next season.
