Preston North End 2-1 Sunderland: Tony Mowbray's side fall to another defeat as poor start continues

Sunderland's poor start to the season continued as they fell to another 2-1 defeat, with Mads Frokjaer's second-half strike settling a tight contest.

Again it was a game Sunderland should probably have got at least a point from, falling behind to another deflection and gifting up the second with a dismal piece of play in the middle of the pitch.

When Jack Clarke's penalty got them level in the first half they looked relatively well placed to kick on, but despite some good play throughout the lack of presence in the penalty box again cost them dear. That they unable to create any major chances in the last ten minutes chasing the game spoke to the concerns in the absence of Ross Stewart, and with a senior striker still not recruited.

Mowbray had seen enough from Bradley Dack on Tuesday night to put him straight into the starting XI, raising eyebrows by opting to put him up front in place of Hemir.

Though Preston caused few real problems early on, their aggressive pressing looked potentially dangerous for a Sunderland side who were a little off their usual pace, playing themselves into trouble once or twice early on.

The frustration of Preston's opener, though, was that it came just as the visitors were showing signs of their threat. Twice Clakre made excellent runs to the byline, his low cutbacks just about hacked clear. And just before the goal, Cirkin nodded over after a short corner routine saw Roberts find him with an inswinging cross.

For the second week in a row there was more than a touch of fortune about the goal that put Sunderland behind, Frokjaer's drive from the edge of the area striking Will Keane just inside the box and entirely wrong-footing Patterson in goal.

This time, though, Sunderland responded excellently. Barely five minutes had passed when another clever short-corner routine saw Clarke spin his marker in the box, hauled down just as he looked to cross. The winger stepped up and put a precise penalty into the bottom corner, Woodman close but not close enough.

The Black Cats finished the second half well, with Roberts at times mesmeric in the way he drove down the right flank in the space left behind by the wing back. If there was one obvious issue for Sunderland is that too often, they didn't have a presence in the six-yard box when he and Clarke worked their magic.

Another long-range effort from Ekwah marked a solid start to the second half from Sunderland, though neither was able to find a real intensity to their play.

In the end it was a gift from Sunderland that allowed Preston to edge ahead, a poor 1-2 that gifted up possession in the middle of the field. Preston swarmed forward and though Ballard blocked the initial through ball, it ran for Frokjaer who finished well past Patterson.

A complete lack of precision was hampering any attempt from Sunderland to work their way back into the game, and for a time it was the hosts who looked more likely to go on and score again.

With 15 minutes to play Sunderland began to find their range again, Woodman making an excellent block when Clarke got to the byline and cut the ball back for Roberts. Pritchard found O'Nien from the following corner, and his header drifted just inches wide of the near post.

Preston were feeling the pressure when Pritchard played Ba through on goal, but the midfielder couldn't get the ball out from under his feet and the danger passed. Worryingly for Sunderland, that was their last attack of any real note as the game fizzled out and the corners on Wearside began to mount.

Sunderland AFC XI: Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin; Neil, Ekwah (Ba, 75); Roberts, Bellingham (Pritchard, 66), Clarke; Dack (Hemir, 66)

Subs: Bishop, Triantis, Rigg, Huggins, Bennette, Batth

Preston North End XI: Woodman, Lindsay, Storey, Hughes; Potts, McCann (Holmes, 75), Browne, Ledson, Best (Whatmough, 78); Keane, Frokjaer (Woodburn, 85)

Subs: Cornell, Cunningham, Bauer, Rodriguez-Gentile, Taylor, Leigh

Bookings: Keane, 34 Ballard, 69 Browne, 90 Potts, 90

Attendance: 19,892 (5,655 away)