Alex Neil says Sunderland were 'one moment of quality away' from celebrating their return to the Championship with a hard-fought victory. The Black Cats got their campaign up and running with a 1-1 draw against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light.
Jack Clarke put Neil's men in front early in the game, but Viktor Gyokeres' individual goal six minutes from time earned the Sky Blues a deserved point. Neil was pleased with the way his side acquitted themselves in their first game at a higher level, but pointed out that Coventry's goal illustrated the difference they will encounter this term in comparison to last year in League One.
"I thought we gave a good account of ourselves, I thought we were organised, we made it really difficult for them," he said. "And, let's be honest, we would be sitting talking about a great result if it hadn't been for one moment of quality where we switched off, we didn't get around the ball quickly enough, and let him [Gyokeres] turn.
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"But even then, it's a great goal. It's not as though we made an error and they had a tap-in, the lad had to turn, dip past two players, and then put the ball in the bottom corner.
"That's the quality of the Championship. You could see that the game is much more difficult physically for the players than it would be in League One.
"When we scored a goal, teams would drop off us because they were scared to get beaten by even more and we would dominate the ball. But [in the Championship] teams will come here and believe they are better than us, and you could argue that they are probably right because they have spent a few seasons playing Championship football whereas we were playing our first game back at this level."
Sunderland were the better side in the opening half-hour and Clarke's goal came inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour. The Black Cats also limited Coventry to just a couple of chances, with Anthony Patterson making a fine save from Jonathan Panzo and Matty Godden missing a golden chance when Sunderland played themselves into trouble on the edge of their own penalty area.
Neil said: "It was a tough match, first and foremost. It was always going to be a tough match when you're playing Coventry for the first game.
"They will be in it to try and be a top ten team, I would imagine, this season because they have been in the Championship for a few seasons and have built year-on-year, and they have guys now that other teams are willing to pay six, eight, ten, million pounds for. Our start was excellent, we moved the ball really well, we risked the ball, and scored a really good goal.
"But when we scored I thought we started to be a bit more hesitant in terms of risking the ball. We had some really good moments, though.
"We knew Coventry were going to have territory and possession, but equally I thought we really limited them. The only chances they had, off the top of my head, was the lad Panzo stepping in and hitting the bar from 40 yards, which you wouldn't expect him to score, and then when we passed the ball to the edge of our box to Dan Neil they nearly scored from there, and then the goal.
"Beyond that, really, there weren't many more chances they had, but we had some good opportunities ourselves. I think we probably caught Coventry a little bit cold in terms of how we started, but they are a good side, they have good players and they were going to make it difficult for us.
"All in all, for what our players offered up, I was really pleased with their effort and how they went about it."
Sunderland created some good chances of their own, with Clarke having the opportunity to double their lead in the first half, while Ross Stewart brought a spectacular save out of Simon Moore in the second period. Neil said: "You need to be clinical, because you are not going to get as many chances.
"Our chances were probably cleaner than theirs, but unfortunately we got done by a really good goal."
The only true new face in the side was defender Daniel Ballard, with goalscorer Clarke having spent the second half of last season on loan on Wearside from Spurs before making his move permanent this summer. The rest of the team played in League One last term and were making the step up to Championship level.
Neil also pointed out that his squad is still under-strength with the club having much work to do in August before the transfer deadline passes at the end of the month. He said: "You don't know how players are going to react.
"We still have a lot of work to do in the window as well in terms of strengthening the squad, so I would argue we are still under-strength at the moment. Seven players left at the end of last year, we have added four [not including Clarke and Leon Dajaku, who were on loan at Sunderland last season] so we certainly have numbers to add to make us stronger."
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