Chris Coleman was left frustrated by his side’s performance levels against 10-man Birmingham City this afternoon.
Lewis Grabban cancelled out Sam Gallagher’s opener in a high-octane 25 minutes, but the match swiftly filtered in a scrappy affair as George Honeyman and Grabban squandered big chances.
Josh Maja, Joel Asoro and Didier Ndong were brought on by the Welshman as the second 45 wore on after Gallagher was dismissed for two bookable offences, but the Black Cats were unable to unlock a resolute Blues backline and Sunderland were forced to settle for a point.
Speaking post-match, Coleman delivered his verdict.
“Our performance wasn’t where we wanted it to be,” he said.
“On the back of last week, we were looking to build on that, of course.
“We tried to get the maximum here, I thought there was a touch of luck with their goal.
“It was a great block by Sheasy after the ball over the top, but it falls straight back to their guy who slots it in.
“It was disappointing really because it was an opportunity that we haven’t taken.
“When they had a man sent off they chose their moments to attack us, we defended very deep and in numbers.
“We did that ourselves, but we couldn’t break them down,” he continued.
“We waited for that one little chance, but we couldn’t capitalise on it.
“When you don’t play as well as you can you still need to take something. We took something, but I think we have missed an opportunity.”