Sunderland succumbed to a second successive 0-0 draw in Championship action when facing off against Preston North End on Wednesday night.
It was a game that lacked vigour from both sides, with Preston no doubt happier with the stalemate when the full-time whistle sounded, as Paul Heckingbottom’s hosts find themselves just above the relegation spaces in the early second-tier standings.
Sunderland do still occupy top spot for the time being in the unpredictable division, but Le Bris will chalk this down as a missed opportunity to get back to winning ways, as many of his dependable first-teamers struggled to explode into life at Deepdale.
Sunderland underperformers vs Preston
It was very apparent from Sunderland’s goal-shy showing that they lacked the creativity of Jobe Bellingham in the midfield spots, who sat out the contest versus the Lilywhites owing to a suspension.
In his place stepped up ex-Preston man Alan Browne who was arguably poor coming up against his former employers, with the experienced number eight squandering possession 16 times in total across his 90 minutes on the pitch, alongside registering just one off-target effort from deep in a bid to break the deadlock.
Away from the more accomplished faces in Le Bris’ starting line-up, young Tommy Watson was surprisingly given a starting nod at Deepdale, with the 18-year-old homegrown Sunderland product fading in and out of the contest to the disappointment of his manager watching on.
Watson would only amass 27 touches of the ball – alongside only mustering up a single shot on Freddie Woodman’s goal – before Patrick Roberts came on in his place in the second 45 minutes – on a night where Sunderland really lacked anything in the forward areas.
Although Aaron Connolly spoke of his delight after the game of being given his first start for the Black Cats since making a free transfer move possible, he was also a bystander to a lot of the action up top and could be dropped for his team’s game versus Coventry City at the weekend.
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Connolly's performance in numbers
Potentially still rusty after only joining Sunderland in late September, the former Hull City man was way off the pace in Lancashire, not helped by the complete lack of service he was getting in attempting to make something happen in the drab contest.
The Black Cats number 24 would only accumulate a sorry nine touches in the game before being substituted off just after the hour mark, with no Bellingham in the side attempting to cut open the Preston defence to play Connolly into space, with Dan Neil also quiet in this regard on the night.
Even stand-in Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Moore would manage more touches, with the temporary shot-stopper amazingly registering 30 more.
Minutes played
62
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
9
Accurate passes
1/2
Shots
1
Big chances missed
1
Duels won
2/6
Even from those limited touches, the Irishman did manage to miss a big opportunity for the visitors – as Woodman denied the 24-year-old from point-blank range after Trai Hume darted forward to play him into space – but other numbers from his 62 minutes on the pitch make for bleak reading, with Connolly only managing to register one accurate pass all night long.
It was a bold call by Le Bris to start Connolly up top, considering his lack of action to date at the Stadium of Light, and it will be a decision that the Frenchman must surely regret even more now based off what he saw against the Lilywhites.
Pushed out to the flanks in Lancashire, it’s likely that Wilson Isidor will be moved back to the lone striker spot for the test of the managerless Sky Blues this Saturday, after firing home four goals from 11 league appearances to date.
Connolly will just be working on getting more up to speed behind the scenes in the build-up to this next league clash, with the 24-year-old no doubt frustrated with himself after this unmemorable display.
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