Aiden McGeady admits losing to Charlton last season in the play-off final at Wembley was a 'tough day', but says it wasn't the most frustrating thing about last season.
McGeady, now playing for Charlton, was the star of the Black Cats last term, but had to start on the bench in the most important game of the campaign because his foot injury - for which he'd playing through with injections for months - meant he was not fit to start.
Sunderland took the lead in just the fifth minute in the most bizarre fashion after a mix up between defender Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr and goalkeeper Dillon Phillips led to an own goal.
But Charlton equalised through Ben Purrington before the interval, before breaking hearts on Wearside with a stoppage time winner courtesy of Patrick Bauer.
Reflecting on the defeat with the media covering new club Charlton, McGeady, who was introduced into that game with 18 minutes remaining, has revealed why while it was tough to take, the final defeat was not the most frustrating thing about that season.
McGeady told South London Press:"I broke a bone in my foot about six weeks before the end of the season. I wanted to try and carry on playing because otherwise it was my season up. I wanted to try and play, to help the team if I could.
“I wouldn’t train through the week and on the day of the game I’d have one, two or three injections in the foot to try and numb it so that I could play.
“We did the same in the final but I wasn’t fit enough to start. They wanted to have me on the bench. I came on but wasn’t fit.
“It was a tough day. No-one wants to lose a game in the last minute but also Charlton played better on the day and deserved it.
“The most frustrating thing came in the run-in to the season, where we had it in our own hands and let it slip away. We were second with two games in hand and six to seven matches to go. The fact we won one of the last six and finished fifth tells its own story.”
