Sunderland’s growing transfer pressure, Patrick Roberts boost plus Bradley Dack call: Preston talking points

When the full-time whistle went at Preston to seal another 2-1 defeat for Sunderland, several visiting players dropped to the floor.

It’s now back-to-back league losses for Tony Mowbray’s side at the start of the 2023/24 season, while there were parallels here to last weekend’s match against Ipswich.

Once again, the Black Cats started well, well behind when goalkeeper Anthny Patterson was wrong-footed by a deflection and conceded a soft second before a late rally.

Here are some of the main talking points following the match at Deepdale:

A lack of cutting edge - again

Last season Sunderland’s away form was better than their home form, with some of the side’s best results coming when they could defend a bit deeper and hit teams on the counter attack.

Against Ipswich and Preston, Tony Mowbray’s side recorded 66 per cent and 65 per cent possession respectively but struggled to break their opponents down.

That has also left Sunderland vulnerable on the break, as shown by Preston’s second goal which was converted by Mads Frokjaer just before the hour mark.

Mowbray’s decision to start Dack

Following Sunderland’s Carabao Cup match against Crewe, new signing Bradley Dack said he’d probably be ready to start a match in one or two weeks - after missing most of pre-season.

The 29-year-old may have therefore been surprised to be thrown into the starting XI at Preston, with Hemir dropping to the bench.

Mowbray felt it would be more beneficial to play with Dack as a false nine against Preston’s three centre-backs, yet clearly the decision highlighted the head coach’s lack of striker options.

With less than three weeks left in the transfer window, the pressure is starting to increase as the Black Cats look to bolster their attack.

Roberts looking back to his best

The big positive from Sunderland’s perspective was the performance of Patrick Roberts, who was a constant threat against Preston’s 17-year-old wing-back Kian Best.

According to Wyscout, Roberts made eight successful dribbles and provided four key passes in the final third at Deepdale.

But while the 26-year-old linked up well with Dack in the first half, there were times when he reached the byline and didn’t have anyone to pick out in the box.

Jack Clarke was also bright on Sunderland’s opposite flank, winning and converting a penalty to equalise in the first half, yet the visitors registered just two shots on target against a resilient Preston defence.

Short corner routines

Like last season, Sunderland’s team isn’t the biggest in terms of size, meaning they are at a disadvantage when it comes to set-pieces into the box.

For that reason the visitors opted to play most of their corners short, which did lead to Clarke winning a penalty in the 31st minute.

Still, with Sunderland struggling to break teams down, it feels like another area where they are lacking a threat.

Lapses of concentration

As previously mentioned, Sunderland’s possession did leave them exposed in defence at times, with one bad pass giving Preston a chance to score.

For the winning goal it was Jobe Bellingham who played a loose pass, allowing North End midfielder Alan Browne to run with the ball into space.

There was some fortune as Browne’s pass deflected off Will Keane and then defender Dan Ballard before dropping to Mads Frokjaer at the far post.

Still, Sunderland had left themself open to the sucker punch.