Tony Mowbray's Sunderland prediction has come true

“I’m sure that there’ll be days along the way that aren’t so good and it’s difficult”, he proclaimed after his side had put on their best performance of the season to-date against an in-form Millers side.

Perhaps what the then-new Sunderland head coach didn’t realise that day, was that it would be just over five weeks until one of those days would first become a reality.

At the Swansea.com Stadium, Mowbray’s side were simply way below their own standards and within a rather disappointing first half, they were punished by a fluid Swansea side.

The Swans have all the characteristics that Mowbray will envisage his side having in the coming months and years, but on this day in South Wales, it proved to be the Swans who spread their wings and continued their climb of the Championship table.

This was a day where Sunderland’s mounting striker problems suddenly began to overtake them, after rapidly catching up with them previously in this week with goalless draws against Preston and Blackpool.

Within the first half, Alex Pritchard and Elliot Embleton went lost within Swansea’s continuous attacking intent, whilst both Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts’ attacking threat, of their own, was practically nullified.

Sunderland need to find answers to their striker issues, before they become begging and rushing both Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms back to full fitness, with potentially even bigger consequences.

Yet here upon their venture to South Wales, Mowbray’s side, again, lacked the physical figure of one of their leading strikers – the Black Cats bullied off the ball, and punished in their own penalty area.

In midfield, their passing was far too loose, but the only positive coming out of Corry Evans’ one-game suspension for racking up five yellow cards is that it allows Mowbray to experiment with his starting 11.

Jay Matete has come on in recent outings and has impressed the eye, whilst Abdoullah Ba has also staked a claim into taking the captain’s place for Saturday’s fixture against Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light.

In that one, Sunderland need to learn from their errors of the first half in South Wales, in a game that is likely to have everything in front of a potentially-electric atmosphere.

Leam Richardson’s side have had a similar start to the Championship season as the Black Cats, after their promotion from League One last year, and after the ‘rivalry’ that the two clubs have had over the last couple of seasons, the match is set up to be a tasty affair.

After a week of striker struggles for the Black Cats and Mowbray, it will prove to be a case of ‘if only’ for the home side, as Nathan Broadhead will return to Wearside.

But Sunderland can’t make this match all about Broadhead, Wyke, Power, McClean etc, they can’t get sucked into one of those matches that, as Sunderland fans, we’ve been used to over the recent years.

The Black Cats need to implement their own gameplan, find their own attacking avenues, and ultimately find a way to convert their chances into goals.