The summer transfer outcome that is costing Sunderland and what else we learnt after Blackburn Rovers defeat

It wasn’t that the Black Cats were outplayed at Ewood Park, while both of Rovers’ goals should arguably have been chalked off in the 2-0 defeat.

Yet a lack of cutting edge in and around the final third once again proved costly for Tony Mowbray’s side. It also begged the question: Where would Sunderland be if strikers Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms had been available?

Here are some of the things we learnt:

There are no standout teams so far

Sunderland are 15 league games into the season and this was the first time they’ve been beaten by two goals.

The win moved Blackburn top of the Championship after Tuesday’s fixtures, yet Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side have still been beaten seven times in the league this campaign.

Two of Sunderland’s other defeats came against Norwich and Sheffield United, two sides fancied for promotion this season, yet the Black Cats more than held their own in those matches too.

It just shows what an open division the Championship appears to be this term.

Summer decision is still proving costly

Sunderland’s transfer approach over the last 12 months has been welcomed by many, with the club unearthing some exciting, young talent who have already impressed at Championship level.

Yet not managing to bring in another striker continues to prove costly.

Sunderland may argue the right player wasn’t available and few would advocate signing someone just for the sake of it. Yet the club were close to agreeing a deal to re-sign Nathan Broadhead - after the arrival of Simms – and also missed out on other targets.

Against Blackburn Sunderland delivered 12 crosses into the box yet only three were met by a visiting player (according to Wyscout). That was partly down to some inaccurate deliveries, but also the lack of a natural striker or bodies in the box.

It was claimed that Amad and Leon Dajaku could also act as striker options, yet the latter wasn’t even named on the bench at Blackburn, while Jewison Bennette came off the bench to play up front.

It seems clear the Black Cats would have more points on the board if they had another recognised centre-forward in their squad.

While it’s still early days, Sunderland could have been right among the Championship’s early pacesetters.

Slow starts can’t continue

Patrick Roberts highlighted after the game that Sunderland need to start games better, and there is a worrying trend starting to emerge.

While the Black Cats haven’t necessarily started badly in all their recent matches, they haven’t scored first since the 3-0 win at Reading.

Since then Tony Mowbray’s side have fallen behind against Watford, Swansea, Wigan and Blackburn in the first half of games.

Coming from behind to win is challenging enough at the best of times, but even more so when the team is struggling in front of goal.

While it took an excellent strike from Ben Brereton Diaz to open the scoring for Blackburn, the visitor’s defence became more vulnerable when they had to throw more men forward in the second half.

Sunderland did manage to score first in four of their first five Championship games, all in the first half, this season, and will hope to restore that trend.