The Kyril Louis-Dreyfus quote that Sunderland must now embrace ahead of promotion battle with Hull and Peterborough

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus spoke with a maturity defying his age when unveiled as Sunderland’s new chairman, and confidently articulated that he would not panic or act on impulse during his time as majority shareholder.

That’s a mentality that the Wearsiders must now embrace after their disappointing defeat to Charlton Athletic.

The 2-1 reverse checked the club's new-found momentum under Lee Johnson and dented their automatic promotion hopes on a day where Peterborough United and Hull City both sealed crucial wins.

But there is no need to panic, just yet.

In a season such as this, where games have been back-loaded due to postponement, there were always going to be twists and turns. It would have been remarkable had Sunderland navigated their final eight fixtures with a perfect record given the opponents they were facing and the hectic schedule that lies ahead of the game.

A bump in the road somewhere along the way was inevitable.

The Black Cats’ lengthy unbeaten run has seen them secure some strong results with some excellent performances - countered with some fixtures where the club were efficient and ground out the wins.

However, a game where the performance level dipped slightly was always likely before the season was out.

That said, there were some good elements to Sunderland’s play against Charlton. They created some excellent opportunities in the first half and could have been out of sight early on. The disappointment will come in that they were unable to take those chances, and then conceded two sloppy goals from set pieces.

There will rightfully be criticism of some elements of the performance. Certain selection decisions will no doubt be questioned and there is no hiding from the fact the defending for both Charlton goals was disappointing.

But it’s not quite crisis time just yet.

Sunderland are a much-improved side to that which entered 2021, are a vastly different club off the field and remain in with a real chance of promotion come the end of the season.

So while this defeat will no doubt sting, it’s not time for the Sunderland squad to man the panic stations just yet – for their chairman certainly won’t be.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor:

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor