Sunderland's defeat in the Tees-Wear derby was a stark reminder of how brutal life in the Championship can be. With the scores locked at 0-0, Alex Pritchard squandered a golden opportunity to give the Black Cats the lead, an opportunity that would prove costly come the final whistle.
Middlesbrough would control the game for large parts with Anthony Patterson being called into action on a number of occasions to keep the scoreline down. There was nothing the young shot stopper could do with Riley McGree's first-half strike - a result that lifted the hosts out of the bottom three.
Ross Stewart limped out of the warm-up to inflict an early blow to Tony Mowbray's side before a ball had even been kicked. In truth, Sunderland were unable to bounce back from that and struggled in the final third all evening.
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Therein lies one of the biggest problems standing in Sunderland's way this season. The arrival of Ellis Simms has bolstered attacking options, but he's now the only fit out and out striker at the club following Stewart's injury.
The Black Cats are light in the final third, but Mowbray does have plenty of options at his disposal in other areas, allowing a change in formation. The arrivals of Abdoullah Ba, Jewison Bennette, Edouard Michut, and Amad Diallo has bolstered midfield options, whilst also building for the future.
You can't knock the club for it's investment this summer, but the ship has now sailed in terms of bringing in another striker. It's early days for Mowbray and he has quite the knack of developing youngsters and that bodes well for Sunderland's blueprint.
It's always going to be a fine act of recruiting for the here and now in order to get results on the pitch, whilst trying to build for the future.
Speaking after the game, the Black Cats head coach said: "They've shown they can compete with a team with a lot of pedigree and experienced footballers. But the young players will have to deal with the adversity of losing a game, and they'll have to do that against Millwall this weekend.
"That's how you develop character and grow as a character. I'm sure the Stadium of Light will be bouncing at the weekend and will help the team get the three points."
It was a tough night for the Black Cats at the Riverside there's no denying that. The result knocks Sunderland out of the play-off picture but when you look at the three defeats this season, they act as a potent reminder of how far the club has come in the past few months.
Defeats against Boro, Norwich City and Sheffield United have not been a forgone conclusion for the opponents, the Black Cats have contested well and had chances in all three of those ties. Last night's game at the Riverside, the weakest performance in all three.
However, when you take into account all three being favourites for the title, there's no shame at all in any of those defeats. In fact, Sunderland's performance at Bramall Lane was one of character and they can feel aggrieved to have dropped points at home against the Canaries.
Sunderland have shown enough in the opening eight games of the season to ensure supporters there won't be a repeat of their last Championship campaign in 2017-18.
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