Gary Rowell: Sunderland dropping points against Fleetwood and Coventry City is damaging but situation is not beyond repair

Those two games were always going to be a massive test for Sunderland, a real indicator of where the team is and how far they can go but to be brutally honest, they have failed in both games.

That is not to say automatic promotion can’t be achieved but it is looking more difficult than it was after that 3-0 win against Bristol Rovers just over a week ago though it seems a lot longer than that.

What killed Sunderland in those following two fixtures was their abysmal start in both matches.

They even had a warning against Fleetwood when the visitors should have scored even earlier than they actually did, then Sunderland followed it up against Coventry by conceding ridiculously early again, probably before some fans had even taken their seats.

They came back to salvage a point against Joey Barton’s men with a 97th minute equaliser and as satisfying as it is to burst Joey Barton’s bubble the fact is, two points were lost.

The Coventry game, however, frustrated me even more and not just because the slack defending that gave the Sky Blues such a massive early lift.

Sunderland never really looked like scoring from open play and they had plenty of possession, but a lack of creativity and poor final deliveries meant the Coventry keeper was rarely tested.

Where Sunderland did look dangerous was from set pieces, the delivery from those was usually good but frustratingly the final finish was lacking.

Charlie Wyke missed a good chance from a corner while Tom Flanagan missed a sitter after deciding to volley a ball with his left foot when he surely would have scored with his head.

There was also a good shout for a penalty for a foul on Luke O’Nien, again from a corner and from my admittedly biased eyes it looked nailed on, if only League One had VAR.

It is never easy being a Sunderland fan, the disappointments always seem to outweigh the good times but this week has been particularly damaging but hopefully not beyond repair.