Inside the night Sunderland's wretched performance put top-two hopes in serious doubt and the major questions it raised

The home supporters, jubilant as their long winless run came to end, chanted for a wave from manager Ben Garner.

It had been just days since Garner had headed over to his club’s travelling fans at Southend United, and was told in no uncertain terms exactly what they had made of a shock 3-1 defeat.

In his pre-match press conference, Garner had admitted that he was a manager in need of results.

Everyone at the Memorial Stadium, he had said, were playing for their futures.

When Graham Coughlan left to join Mansfield Town, they were fourth after a victory over Ipswich Town.

Since then they had won one once in the league.

Garner had insisted that he had begun changing things for the better, and that in the summer he would begin to make the changes

Yet one comment before this game showed just how deep the malaise was.

“I’m not stupid, I know results need to improve [to get to pre-season].”

It said much that the atmosphere in those closing stages was so relaxed, with little to no tension or fear of collapse.

Sunderland had much of the ball and five minutes of stoppage time to play with, yet there had been nothing in their play to suggest that a revival was on the horizon.

Jamal Blackman, the talented goalkeeper on loan from Chelsea, had what must have been his easiest nights in weeks.

It was not until the very dying seconds of the game that he was asked to make his first meaningful save, and even then, Chris Maguire’s effort was firmly struck but essentially straight at him.

Sunderland’s season is far from over, but yet again, they find themselves thankful that the division has proved forgiving.

A four game winless run has handed the initiative to their promotion rivals and on every occasion, a major opportunity has been spurned.

They remain just one win off the top two, a win against Blackpool likely to catapult them back into the play-off positions and most likely within a win of the automatic spots.

Yet all teams above the Black Cats now have an added game to play, and Sunderland’s margin for error is now absolutely minimal.

An extended break looms in which they are almost certain to fall off the pace.

The greater concern is that right now, they are not performing to a level anywhere near what would be required to catch up.

If there had been some mitigating factors in previous games, taking into account the opposition and the way the games had played out, then there were none here.

Phil Parkinson had freshened his side up and when the teamsheets were handed out, it looked close to the XI that so many had been calling for in recent weeks.

Both Josh Scowen and Antoine Semenyo had been handed a full debut and in the early stages, the omens were good.

Scowen was busy and covered plenty of ground, making one tremendous covering clearance as Bristol Rovers broke towards the byline.

Semenyo made a couple of promising runs and on one occasion, carried the ball from inside his own half right to the edge of the opposition penalty box.

Damningly, it proved to be one of his side’s best offensive moments.

As it turned out, the more significant news had come from Garner’s side of the teamsheet.

This was without doubt the best performance from a number nine we have seen in a Sunderland game this season.

Jonson Clarke-Harris has been talismanic for his side since arriving last January, the key player in their remarkable form under Coughlan.

Even as results were good under the Irishman, their attacking numbers were not all that impressive.

Their results were built primarily on defensive resilience and Clarke-Harris did a superb job of taking on the attacking load.

In the opening quarter of the game, it looked as if this was a similar gameplan.

Rovers had lined up in a 3-4-3 system to match Sunderland, but out of possession the back five was flat and the two attacking midfielders dropped in to form a diamond.

Clarke-Harris was isolated and asked to fight for long balls to help his side get up the pitch, which he did with relish and quality.

Slowly, though, the home side grew in confidence.

By the end of the game, they had done to Sunderland what the Black Cats were doing to teams at the start of that heartening revival.

It was another contest in which Sunderland were left feeling that they had not created enough to give themselves a chance of winning the game.

It leaves Parkinson with major questions as to why both Rovers’ inside forwards and wing-backs were far more prominent than his.

In his post-match press conference, Parkinson said the defeat was due primarily to his players ‘losing their way’.

There may have been an element of that.

Too often, contentious first-half decisions led to long remonstrations with the referee.

Tom Flanagan was booked for dissent and after his long-running dialogue with the official, Kyle Lafferty was withdrawn at half-time, Parkinson fearing he would soon see red.

Parkinson’s verdict was that this frustration had stopped them doing the right things in possession.

It’s conceivable, however, that he won’t also be weighing up how his side managed to play with such little energy and creativity.

Though Will Grigg missed two half chances in his very brief cameo, it was surely telling that it was only when he arrived that Sunderlnd seemed to have some movement and energy around the opposition box.

Parkinson was frustrated but far from irate.

There is plenty of time left in the season, was his message.

Yet he will also know that one or two performances more like this, and automatic promotion will be gone.

Any more than that, and the top six will be in danger.