Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson acknowledged that his team were not good enough on the ball in the final third as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Coventry City this afternoon.

The two sides were separated by three points going into the game and the Black Cats knew that a victory at St. Andrew's would put them firmly in the mix for a top two finish.

Whilst the result doesn't end those hopes by any means, it was a significant blow, with Matt Godden's early strike enough to secure the three points for the Sky Blues.

And, even though Sunderland applied pressure in the second half, they couldn't create many clear cut chances and Parkinson told the Chronicle Live that his team just weren't up to it on the day.

"The effort was there but we were just a bit frantic today, we just lacked that bit of quality. We gave the ball away cheaply, conceded the goal, and ended up chasing the game - we needed a bit more of the calmness in our play that we had shown all the way through this run.

"Some of the stuff was good, we switched the play at times, but our final ball and that bit of care wasn’t quite there, and you need that to be right to create chances."

The verdict

This is a very fair assessment from Parkinson on what was a frustrating day for the team and it could be a significant blow in the race for a top two finish.

And, ultimately, they didn't have that quality on the ball, with the likes of Lynden Gooch and Chris Maguire surprisingly quiet.

But, it's happened now. The team need to switch their focus immediately as they look to get back to winning ways against Gillingham on Saturday.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.