Sunderland fell to their first defeat of the League One season as they were beaten by Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light.

Phil Parkinson's side have been hugely impressive in the opening weeks but they weren't at their best against Pompey, who started quickly and were a threat throughout.

Marcus Harness gave the away team the lead and whilst Charlie Wyke equalised almost immediately, John Marquis put Portsmouth 2-1 up at the break and he sealed the win with a late penalty.

And, speaking to the Sunderland Echo, the Black Cats boss felt his team weren't good enough in possession to break through the visitors' high-intensity approach.

"We've discussed many times since I came here, through pre-season as well and into this season, that teams are going to come and press us early in games.

"We need to play in the right areas of the pitch, and just too many times we didn't make the right choice of pass."

The Wearside outfit will get the chance to bounce back from this defeat on Tuesday as they take on Rochdale, as they look to close the four-point gap to the automatic promotion places, although they do have a game in hand as well.

The verdict

This is honest from Parkinson and the fans will surely appreciate the boss admitting that they just weren't good enough at stages yesterday.

Whilst they've been consistent this season, Sunderland dropped below their high levels and were punished by an impressive Portsmouth side.

Now, the challenge is to get back to winning ways in the week and to go on another unbeaten run.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.