Daniel Ballard News: Starter when healthy

Ballard had three goals and one assist with just two clean sheets in his 15 starts (23 appearances) this past season.

Ballard was a regular when healthy, but he had multiple injuries throughout the season which kept him out about half the time. After starting 43 matches in 2023/24, this could be more of a fluke, but in the Premier League, staying healthy is one of the more important things for players jumping a level. He'll hope to remain on the back line with Luke O'Nien, though that seems to rarely happen assuming Sunderland add some new defenders.