Sunderland’s poor form continued on Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road.

The Black Cats produced a better performance than they had managed against Millwall a week previous but their campaign continues to fizzle out in disappointing fashion. Here’s Phil Smith’s key conclusions from the game…

SOME IMPROVEMENTS BUT SOME BIG QUESTIONS REMAIN

Though the end result was painfully familiar given the way the second half of the season has panned out, this was a little different to some of Sunderland’s recent performances. A classic for the neutral it was not, and a free-flowing performance it was most certainly not, but Sunderland did over the course of 90 minutes create enough to get something out the game. Chris Rigg missed a good chance when played through by Adil Aouchiche, Trai Hume also denied by Daniel Bachmann not long after. In the second half, Jack Clarke missed two chances that earlier in the campaign would almost certainly have found the bottom corner. Hard to criticise the winger, when you consider where this season might have ended without him.

If you felt Mike Dodds was being overly generous in saying his side ought to have won the game, then it’s only fair to point that his opposite number made clear that he felt his side had probably got away with one on balance of play.

It was a harsh result in the end, though that does mean that questions over where this side are headed are not valid. Sunderland may have created more chances in this game than they have of late, but most were on the counterattack. Since Tony Mowbray’s departure they appear to have shifted away both from trying to dominate possession and pressing high up the pitch, instead more often than not happy to sit off the game and absorb pressure. There is no right way to play the game, the concern more being that this entirely at odds with how Sunderland say they want to operate and most notably, the style that they say they recruit to. It has also undoubtedly played a key part in the apathy that has understandably taken hold amongst many supporters over the last couple of months.

Is it a case of trying to get through to the end of the campaign relatively unscathed? If so, then the fear is that the decline both in results and attacking output leads to a hangover that will not be easy to shift over the summer months – both on the pitch and off it.

If it is the start of a broader shift in strategy and playing style, then the results of late would question whether that it is a sage one. Sunderland now routinely yield few chances to their opponents and clearly have a solid defensive platform, and yet their results over the second half of the campaign cannot be described as anything other than relegation form.

DUO NEARING EXIT AFTER MIKE DODDS DECISION

Though they travelled with the squad to Watford, neither Mason Burstow nor Bradley Dack were named in the matchday squad.

Mike Dodds said afterwards that there was not necessarily an indication that their futures lay elsewhere: Dack had not been able to train all the way through the week and so was an obvious candidate to make way given that the interim boss was eager to reward Tommy Watson’s promising U21 performances with a place in the squad.

With Burstow, Dodds felt he did not need both he and Luis Hemir on the bench and so it made sense to go with the latter.

Dodds did concede, however, that perhaps there had been a slight nod to the future with this decisions. Dack has been unable to put a consistent run of games together since joining last summer and while Burstow is a player Sunderland still feel has a promising long-term future, it now seems certain that he will need a fresh start either at Chelsea or elsewhere for the time being. It would now be a significant surprise to see either playing in a Sunderland shirt next season.

A tougher call for Sunderland is Corry Evans, who has looked sharp on his return to the team over the last fortnight.

ONE POSITIVE TO TAKE

If you’re looking for some positivity to take from an otherwise disappointing afternoon and a disappointing few weeks, then Aji Alese’s return would be one. The defender has looked sharp since his return from injury and got through another fixture unscathed here.

The defender looks in a strong position to hit the ground running in pre-season and if so, a key problem position over the course of this campaign will be at least in part solved. If Dennis Cirkin can get fit and stay fit, it will become a position of strength.

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