Phil Parkinson reacts to Sunderland's slow start after losing to Coventry City in key League One clash

Sunderland fell behind within the opening two minutes at St Andrew’s Matty Godden firing past Jon McLaughlin after a defensive mix-up, the early strike proving the winner.

It left Phil Parkinson frustrated and left to rue another ‘very annoying’ start to a big game.

Max Power saw an effort correctly ruled out for offside after it took a huge deflection off Luke O’Nien on the way past Marko Marosi, with Sunderland missing other openings from Tom Flanagan in the first half.

It leaves Sunderland fifth, six points adrift of league leaders Coventry and four shy of Rotherham United in second place.

Reflecting on the start, Phil Parkinson said: “It was just a lack of communication in and around our box, not quite getting our covering positions right, and we got punished for it.

“It’s very annoying after conceding early against Fleetwood too. We gave a good team a start in what was always going to be a tight game with very little in it.

“When you give a team a goal like that it gives them a huge lift.”

For the opener, Flanagan and Alim Ozturk were drawn towards the ball, with Jamie Allen looking certain to shoot.

The midfielder showed terrific composure to instead play a pass into the box, and Godden needed just one touch to compose himself before firing home.

Parkinson added: “I thought the effort was there, but I thought we were just a bit frantic and lacked a bit of quality. We gave the ball away cheaply, and after conceding the goal, it was as though we tried to chase the game too early. We just needed a bit more calmness in our play.

“Some of the stuff was good, we switched the play at times, but our final ball and that little bit of care wasn’t quite there, and that’s what you need to create chances. We wanted to get back in the game, but there has to be a method and I just thought we were a bit hurried with the final pass."