Tony Mowbray took heart from the way Sunderland reacted in the face of adversity at Swansea. Unfortunately, by the time they got going it was too late.
They were already 2-0 down at the Swansea.com Stadium and, without a centre-forward to call upon, the chances of them retrieving - never mind overhauling - that deficit were negligible. Mowbray was right to praise his team for the way they set about their task in the second half, as they showed a renewed vigour and sense of purpose.
And with Jack Clarke switched from the left flank to a central role, they offered more of a threat after Alex Pritchard and Elliot Embleton had toiled in vain up front in the first period. Clarke gave Sunderland some hope when he pulled one back soon after the break, with his strike ending his side's goal drought five minutes short of the four-hour mark.
READ MORE: Tony Mowbray on Sunderland's positional switch that made a big difference at Swansea City
And while there were a couple of moments when Sunderland might have forced an equaliser - substitute Amad seeing a shot saved by Steven Benda, and then deep into injury time when Clarke went to ground claiming a penalty only to receive a booking for a dive instead - by and large Swansea looked more likely to kill the game off. Anthony Patterson was bailed out by Danny Batth after the goalkeeper had passed straight to Joel Piroe on the edge of the penalty area, although Patterson also made one stunning save from Piroe at a set-piece and also produced a couple of other good stops.
In the end, though, it was that first 45 minutes that cost Sunderland. They were off-the-pace right from the word go, as Swansea played through them with embarrassing ease at times.
Ollie Cooper gave the Swans the lead inside the opening quarter-hour with a shot that took a big deflection off Luke O'Nien, and Harry Darling stabbed home from close range from a free-kick in injury time just before half-time. It was Sunderland's worst 45 minutes of the season by some way, and they could easily have been further behind by the time the whistle went for the end of the first half.
As Mowbray said, Sunderland did react in the right manner in the second half. And it is a measure of the positive start they have made to life back in the Championship that they came away feeling disappointed at both the result and the performance against an established second tier side in Swansea, who have themselves recovered from an underwhelming start to the campaign and has now won four games in a row.
For Sunderland, this game marked the end of their four-game unbeaten run and saw them slip three places to 11th in the table. But while their slide from the periphery of the top six into midtable is unwanted, it is probably a more realistic position for a side newly-promoted from League One - and certainly for a newly-promoted side labouring at the present time without a centre-forward.
READ NEXT:
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