Sunderland fan blog: Dropped points at Doncaster Rovers could have big consequences

The inability to kill teams off at 1-0 is something that Sunderland have failed to do, time and time again over previous seasons.

Saturday's result leaves Sunderland lagging behind the early pace-setters in League One, as they sit in eighth position - even lower than where the club was when Jack Ross left the club in October 2019.

On Saturday, it was clear the contrast between Sunderland and teams such as Hull and Portsmouth, who were scoring goals for fun against MK Dons and Crewe, respectively.

These were both teams, who Sunderland struggled against at the start of the season - MK Dons managing to claim three points last week - while the Black Cats managed to scrape a 1-0 victory against Crewe earlier in the season.

So, where does this leave the Black Cats in their latest campaign, when only promotion is good enough?

Their goal difference stats almost opens the eyes of fans to how poorly the club are actually doing.

If the team had been able to claim three points on Saturday, it would have had them back at the two points-per-game ratio that has been mentioned so many times so far this season.

If the season does end up falling down to the goal difference stat, at the moment, Sunderland are lacking in that department with the joint-lowest in the top eight.

Both their defensive record and their attacking statistics have been juxtaposed, with the inability to score up front, but being able to keep one of the best defensive records in the league.

In the next couple of weeks, with pressure really mounting on Phil Parkinson, hopefully the team will be able to reverse their form and return to winning ways.

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