Phil Smith's verdict: Inside the worst afternoon of Sunderland's season so far and why it left alarm bells ringing

There are some tangibles about Sunderland's season so far.

Their points-per-game ratio remains solid, given what has been a fairly challenging fixture list, and the underlying data is largely strong.

Phil Parkinson said post-match that this was another game in which they had been punished for not converting some gilt-edged chances.

This was true, to an extent.

Will Grigg's miss, from barely two yards out, was one of those moments in which even in an almost empty stadium, you could feel the collective gasp.

Convert that, and Sunderland get something from the game.

Had Danny Graham done the same with his early header last week, then perhaps Sunderland avoid the ignominy of being dumped out of the FA Cup in the first round yet again.

Graham had missed another one of these six-yard box chances at Charlton Athletic, the difference between a frustrating draw and an important victory.

And yet.

The intangibles around this season are just as worthy of comment, particularly in light of what was Sunderland's worst afternoon of the campaign to date.

This was another poor performance on a day of significant opportunity.

Consider that the Black Cats have not been in the top two of League One since April 9th, 2019. Even that was the briefest of stays in a campaign in which they churned out points, but largely played second fiddle to Luton Town and Barnsley for the second half of the season.

Time and time again since dropping into League One, they have been close to the top, only to fall short when opportunity knocked.

Yes, they were unfortunate that the points-per-game formula used to settle the season last time around had left them outside of the play-offs, but they had also produced an insipid run of performances just when they seemed ready to take the next step.

Here, they could potentially have moved into the automatic promotion places with three points against a side without a league win on the road in a year.

For an hour, they were comprehensively outplayed.

Not until they went behind did they finally begin to combine tempo with composure in possession.

This afternoon also laid bare another one of those intangibles that feels quite vital in assessing where Sunderland find themselves now, and where they might go next.

In the early weeks of the season, concerns over the team's attacking play had to be offset against their superb defensive record.

In this regard, though, there has been a significant decline ever since they were overrun by Marcus Harness and John Marquis of Portsmouth.

MK Dons burst through midfield with regularity on Saturday afternoon, with Scott Fraser and Louis Thompson visibly growing in confidence every time they were able to carry the ball through the heart of midfield.

In contract, the Black Cats looked one-paced, their structure easily picked apart.

They were immensely fortunate in the first 50 minutes that the visitors did not make more of some big openings in the game, where their composure deserted them just at the final moment.

At times it was hard to discern exactly what shape Sunderland were playing in. That spoke to the disjointed nature of their performance, rather than an endorsement of a fluid approach.

We had seen this happen against Mansfield, and in stages of the two games before, when red card and penalty decisions had turned games on their head.

The statistics bear this out. Sunderand's average expected-goals against for their last six games in 1.46, a big rise from the previous six, which was just 0.60.

Yes, they were missing two defenders on international duty here, but so were MK Dons.

They are increasingly looking like a play-off side, rather than a top-two contender.

That, quite rightly, sets some alarm bells ringing.

Then there was the final and perhaps most important intangible.

That was the feeling that came with watching Sunderland fall to a defeat against a side who were braver in possession and played a considerably more eye-catching style.

Yes, MK Dons flagged considerably late on. So much so, in fact, that Russell Martin conceded that the second half had been one of their poorest displays of the season in possession.

That spoke to their nerves, a rare away lead to hold onto.

Sunderland should have levelled the scores, but it is hard to make a convincing argument that they deserved anything above that.

The visitors played bravely in tight spaces, and at times it almost cost them.

Grigg's opening came as Lynden Gooch pounced on indecision from Dean Lewington, which had, in fairness, been a key part of Phil Parkinson's gameplan.

That bravery, though, allowed them to play through the lines and when their forward players were able to find space, they looked a real threat.

It was bold and it was entertaining, and it made Sunderland look laboured. That was particularly true in midfield, where the Black Cats too often looked overrun.

Since Sunderland dropped into League One, there have been two big themes that occasionally overlap.

One is the bigger picture, the failure to improve the processes and structures behind the scenes that make this failure on the pitch feel doomed to repetition.

The second is the minutiae of the games themselves, where you feel compelled to remind yourself that these are by and large League One players playing League One football.

So the most worrying aspect of this afternoon was that on neither front did Sunderland look in good order.

There is a need for a serious reaction against Doncaster Rovers.

With or without six-yard box misses, Sunderland looked well behind the curve again and takeover or otherwise, that should lead to some soul-searching.

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