How will the Cats respond after major setback?

Only two weeks ago, Sunderland were on the verge of moving up to fourth in the Championship and two points above their play-off contenders.

Now, just days on, the club’s season lies upon a pivotal balancing act.

No wins in their last four, combined with only four goals scored and 10 conceded, two frustrating performances and one absolutely disastrous one, has placed Tony Mowbray’s side’s playoff hopes hanging by a very, very slender thread.

All was continuing to look on the up before Nahki Wells narrowly slotted home Bristol City’s first spot-kick in 469 days to earn the Robins a point, and ever since the Black Cats have been decisively poor in key areas, and clinically exposed in their most fragile places.

So, on Saturday, if anything, they really didn’t want their former gaffer to come home and further exploit this side’s weaknesses, but that’s how the day ultimately transpired.

It was a drubbing that was only beaten at the weekend by Liverpool’s even heavier battering of rivals, Manchester United, but for Mowbray’s men, this was all the more painful.

Controversy fuelled the Potteries’ opener, but from then, individual errors, good finishing, and a perfectly executed game plan took control, as the 43,000-plus attendance that made the opening were reduced to mere numbers by the time two minutes where somehow added on at the end.

Yet, from minute one, Sunderland seemed out of control and without any ideas: poor performances across the turf were on full show, and it just proved that Alex Neil was fully aware of these weaknesses, and his new side pressed smartly, and cut open the Black Cats far too often.

And, it leaves the club on the brink.

From here, their season can go one of two ways: it fizzles out into a bottom-half finish, or Mowbray reignites a play-off spark within the next week and they push upwards.

This young side have had minor bumps so far this season (think QPR, think Burnley, etc.), but never have they had to contend with this sort of day. The big question is how will they respond?