Inside Sunderland's late frustration and what it tells us about where they stand in top-six race

Three penalties he had faced in the Championship this season and not one of them had gone in. Hull City’s Óscar Estupiñán had missed the target with his effort but even then, this excellent young goalkeeper had gone the right way.

And he did so again. He flew to his right and you wondered if this unlikely tilt at the top six was about to get another major shot in the arm. It wasn’t to be, the effort from Nahki Wells just too powerful and just too precise.

For a side that have not been awarded a penalty in well over a year of football, Bristol City showed remarkable nous. They quickly protected the penalty spot, and kept Wells well away from any Sunderland player who might choose to have a word right until the moment he stepped up to score.

The Stadium of Light was left deflated, so close and yet so far.

The reaction, though, told you much about both this game and Sunderland’s progress more generally. Frustration, but no real recrimination.

A large part of that was that Bristol City had very obviously shown themselves to be a good side who although not exactly dominant in the latter stages, had been strong enough in the first half especially to fairly claim they just about deserved to take something back with them.

They had been ten unbeaten coming into this game, and came with the intent not just to preserve that impressive record but to do so by adding three points to their tally. They managed the early injury to their in-form defender Rob Atkinson impressively, and caused the greater problems in the game - only a superb Patterson save denied Anis Mehmeti from scoring at the end of a move so similar to those from Tony Mowbray’s team that have left us purring this season.

For their part, Sunderland were struggling to really impose themselves on the game. Part of that was because they just looked a little off the pace in some of their key areas, particularly down the right flank where those normally incisive combinations were going array. In the moments where they were able to play through, and the hugely impressive Edouard Michut was usually at the heart of that, Joe Gelhardt was just unable to find that final touch.

Mowbray conceded that his team were short of their fluid best, but he also felt that was in part because of the respect he and his staff had for Bristol City, and in particular their counter-attacking threat. With two hugely experienced midfielders and a forward line full of pace and dribbling ability, Mowbray felt the trap was set if Sunderland pushed too many bodies forward too soon. It did limit the opposition for the most part, but it made for a game that was more cat-and-mouse than gunslinging duel.

That began to change at the start of the second half, both sides trading dangerous counters and the key question increasingly being which talented forward line would find the end product first. Mehmeti in particular was excellent, guilty once or twice of not getting his shot or pass away quick enough but a constant threat. He was one of very few players this season to consistently cause Trai Hume problems and perhaps the fatigue that induced played its part in the crucial late penalty.

For now, though, it was Jack Clarke who was once again able to find that moment of quality. There wasn’t one person in the stadium, including the right back a mere yard away from him, who didn’t know what the winger was most likely going to do when he gathered Gelhardt’s pass. But knowing that and stopping it are two very different things, and his excellent campaign continues to go from strength to strength.

Sunderland actually had their best spell of the game after that strike. Pearson threw on more forwards and pushed higher up the pitch, but the end result now was that the hosts had the space they needed to begin playing their game. Amad, again just shy of his best up until this point, began to cause serious problems as his team-mate found him around the opposition box and not somewhere near the halfway line.

Mowbray’s side defended their box when they needed to but they knew the best way to protect the lead was to keep the ball and score another. On another day they might well have done exactly that.

The Sunderland head coach has long warned that a lack of depth and experience could yet catch up with this squad when it comes to the top six, particularly when you look at the resources of some of the teams around them in the table.

It felt like maybe there was a touch of that here. Sunderland most definitely suffered late on after Clarke and the again impressive Patrick Roberts were withdrawn, losing some of the threat which then pushed them back towards their own goal. But the Black Cats have another two games on the road this week, their recent workload has been huge and so their minutes need to be managed.

Mowbray is also trying to integrate Gelhardt into his side despite the schedule offering him next to no time on the training ground in which to do it. His role in Clarke’s goal was excellent, holding the ball up well initially before finding the winger with an excellent weight of pass. All the same he is clearly still searching, understandably, for rhythm and the wavelength on which his team-mates operate.

In short: this team and more to the point this squad, remains a work in progress.

But as Mowbray himself said, they can reflect on a tough week and move on with seven points in the bag. It’s a pretty good place to be.