Sunderland have been largely brilliant this season, with Jack Ross and Stewart Donald doing a brilliant job of turning the perception of the club around. 

They are battling hard to win automatic promotion back to the second-tier at the first time of asking but lost ground on the top two last weekend.

A 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe United enabled Luton Town to open up a three-point cushion on the Black Cats with a 4-0 thrashing of Peterborough United.

It was the North East side's third straight 1-1 draw and will no doubt be a cause for concern for the fans as well as Ross heading into the second half of the season.

Sunderland took the lead in the clash through Josh Maja, showing he is still capable of performing amid intense speculation.

But with ten minutes to go, and with Ross's side failing to kill the game off, Adam Hammill curled in a stunning equaliser.

What could the management have taken from the game?

Well, here are THREE things we clearly learnt about them this weekend...

A ruthless streak is needed

Saturday was the seventh game in a row Sunderland failed to score more than once in a match.

It points to a need to sharpen up all their attacking players in front of goal or heighten the need to bring in Will Grigg who the club have been heavily linked with.

With the likes of Luton and Barnsley both winning convincingly again they will not want to get left behind.

Maja is a true pro

The 20-year-old's head must be all over the place with the battle, apparently, between his agent and the club with a new deal yet to be agreed.

But once on the pitch, he got on with it impressively and added another goal to his tally, showing that if he stays or if he goes he will be a success.

Ross needs to settle

There have been hints of panic setting into the way Ross has set his teams up.

On Saturday he had Jack Baldwin, Adam Matthews, Bryan Oviedo and Dylan McGeouch on the bench, four players who have regularly started this season.

Three of them started the previous game and consistency is definitely needed again.