Phil Smith: Hearts defeat underlined some key Sunderland concerns - but their response speaks volumes

If there's one club that has learned not to read too much into games where there is little ultimately on the line, then it's Sunderland.

The final weeks of the Championship campaign were played out amidst a ferocious debate about the team's listless performances, and whether it was realistic to expect them to turn it on at the crucial moment. When the play-off campaign finally arrived Sunderland were sharp, focused and ultimately successful.

Losing 3-0 to Hearts on Saturday will be irrelevant when the Premier League season starts, just as defeats to Oxford United and QPR were irrelevant when the Black Cats arrived at Coventry City.

Saturday's defeat, and genuinely listless performance, is not a portent for the season ahead but rather a big wake-up call. It has been an exciting summer, Sunderland's ambition and spending in the weeks that followed promotion going far beyond what many supporters had anticipated. It is nevertheless a squad that three weeks out from the start of the campaign is clearly four or five strong additions away from being competitive at the top level.

There are many good reasons not to overreact to Sunderland's no-show at Tynecastle, especially as it followed two encouraging performances against Sevilla and Sporting in Portugal. Hearts have already played four competitive games this summer (albeit against lower-league opposition) and the new Scottish Premiership season starts on Monday. They are a few weeks ahead of Sunderland and as Craig Gordon pointed out afterwards, the difference in match fitness was obvious. Régis Le Bris was keen not to make too many excuses for his players after but did point out that the game had come at the end of an intense week of training for the players, who struggled as a result to match the intensity and physicality of their opponents.

There were poor performances all over the pitch from a Sunderland perspective, concerning without a doubt but also something of an aberration when you take the pre-season campaign so far as a whole. Noah Sadiki made a bad error for the third goal for example and Enzo Le Fée was unusually quiet in and out of possession, but they have otherwise been arguably Sunderland's best players over the last few weeks. Jenson Seelt and Niall Huggins fell short of the standards they have set in recent weeks but as they return from long-term injuries, peaks and troughs in their form are to be expected.

Sunderland's squad should also look stronger come opening day regardless of what happens in the transfer market. Reinildo Mandava is yet to feature for the Black Cats but there is no real concern about his availability for the opening game, given that he was playing regularly at the Club World Cup not so long ago. Though Anthony Patterson and Chris Rigg's ongoing recovery from minor injuries is a frustration and most definitely a worry with the season drawing ever closer, Patterson in particular should be available to face West Ham.

Sunderland's squad isn't at this stage ready for the Premier League, and Saturday's defeat underlined it. Particularly given their defensive injuries, strengthening in central defence is an absolute necessity. Romaine Mundle's injury means they clearly need another winger, and the club's transfer activity so far this summer means that they obviously feel another goalkeeper and a number six are a necessity. This isn't just about the starting XI, either. Sunderland's youngsters have competed well when called upon during the pre-season campaign so far and done their long-term prospects no harm whatsoever, but the jump to Premier League level will at this stage be too big. Recruiting players capable of improving the starting XI will then have the knock-on impact of giving Le Bris the option to genuinely change and influence games from the bench. Add another top-class midfielder, for example, and you know going into games that even if you pick up an injury you'll have at least two very strong options on the bench.

After a sobering afternoon, news on Monday that the club are making rapid progress in their bid to sign Granit Xhaka could not be more welcome. It's a reminder that the group will likely look very different by the time West Ham United visit the Stadium of Light, and that there is no complacency behind the scenes about the scale of the challenge ahead. A deal would kickstart the second phase of Sunderland's summer transfer window and once you factor in good players returning from injury around September, the gaps that were so obvious at the weekend might soon start to look a little less glaring.

And it might be such a bad thing for Sunderland's squad to get a little bit of a jolt after encouraging progress in Portugal. Hearts were stronger, fitter, more committed and actually just better all around - in and out of possession.

Sunderland have to keep their standards high and this was the harshest lesson possible. If last season taught us one thing, it's that this squad tends to react and quickly. Particularly now that competition for places looks as if it is going to become even more fierce in the days and weeks ahead.

Granit Xhaka to Sunderland - the key details

Granit Xhaka is now close to becoming Sunderland's seventh summer signing.

As first revealed by transfer insider Fabrizio Romano this morning, The Echo understands that a deal has now been agreed with Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and that the 32-year-old has been given permission to travel to Wearside for a medical and to finalise the arrangement.

It's understood that Sunderland will be a paying an initial fee of €15 million to sign Xhaka, but that there are also around €5 million of potential add-ons included as part of the deal. Bayer Leverkusen were insistent that they would not let Xhaka go for a fee below their €20 million asking price, but were relatively flexible on the structure of the deal. With a framework now in place, the deal can proceed.

It's understood that the framework of an agreement between the player and the club is already in place, and that if all progresses as planned Xhaka will sign a three-year contract at the club.

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