Sunderland come through first Championship test…

Sunderland come through first Championship test unscathed and with cause for optimism

'Any point in the Championship is a good point. I'll take a point and move on.' For a head coach reflecting on an opening day draw as his newly-promoted side makes its return to a higher level, those are understandable sentiments.

But those were not Alex Neil's words; they were those of his opposite number, Coventry City boss Mark Robins. And it was a tribute to just how well Sunderland had done in their first game back in the Championship, after a four-year stay in League One, that it was Robins who seemed happier to have escaped with a point.

That is not to say that Neil was unhappy. Far from it.

He was hugely encouraged by the way his players had handled their first challenge after making the step up, against a side he tipped to be competing for a top ten finish this term. After all, Neil's starting XI was essentially the same team that finished fifth in the third tier before going on to win promotion via the play-offs, with only one player - young centre-back Daniel Ballard, who joined this summer from Arsenal - not part of last season's squad.

And four members of his side - Anthony Patterson, Dennis Cirkin, Dan Neil, and Ross Stewart - were making their first appearances in the Championship, while Elliot Embleton had played a total of only 16 minutes at that level. If anything, Neil's mood was tinged with disappointment given that his team had come within six minutes of making a dream start in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 that generated an incredible atmosphere at the Stadium of Light in the run-up to kick-off and throughout the 90 minutes.

Sunderland harnessed that energy right from the off, dominating the opening half-hour and deservedly taking the lead inside the opening quarter-hour when Lynden Gooch got the better of his man out wide, and delivered the perfect far-post cross for Jack Clarke to head home. Clarke saw a chance to double the Black Cats' lead saved, and then towards half-time the balance of the game began to shift.

Patterson made a brilliant fingertip save to deny Coventry's on-loan Nottingham Forest defender Jonathan Panzo, with Matty Godden heading the rebound over the top from close range. And there was a major let-off just after half-time when Danny Batth played Neil into trouble on the edge of the penalty area, he was dispossessed and only another horrible miss from Godden came to Sunderland's rescue.

At the other end, Stewart forced Simon Moore into an acrobatic stop, demonstrating that Sunderland sill offered a threat. But Coventry had changed from a back three to a back four during the second half, and that made life more difficult for Sunderland.

Coventry had began to apply pressure and eventually it paid off when Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres turned and skipped away from two men before picking out the bottom right-hand corner with a shot from the edge of the D. In truth, a draw was a fair result given that both sides had enjoyed spells where they were on top.

Had Sunderland been offered a point before kick-off, few would have turned it down. Neil himself admitted in the build-up to the game that he did not know what to expect from his players this season, given that the club has moved up a level with a very similar squad to the one that competed in the third tier last term, and with a lot of work still to do in the transfer window this month.

But the overriding feeling coming away from the ground was that Sunderland had come through their first big test unscathed, and they now have a better idea of what lies ahead.

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