Bailey Wright was one of the stars of the show as Sunderland were held to a draw away to Rochdale on Tuesday night, yet his performance alongside his Black Cats defensive partners left manager Phil Parkinson “disappointed”.

Sunderland travelled to the Crown Oil Arena looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season after a 3-1 loss at home to Portsmouth over the weekend, and begun the League One clash in fine fashion through Charlie Wyke after 15 minutes.

The Black Cats’ lead lasted just 10 minutes, however, as Matty Lund struck his first of the night to pull the game level, something the Northern Irishman would again do just before half-time once Wright had restored the visitor’s advantage.

Lund was able to poke home his fourth of the third-tier campaign thanks to generous defending by Sunderland, leaving Parkinson saddened to see his side’s once superior defensive record further slump having previously allowed just one goal to be scored over the opening six matches.

“I'm disappointed with the two goals we conceded tonight, of course I am,” said Parkinson, via quotes by the Chronicle. “We have been waiting for the goals to come, [but] the bedrock of the team has been in our defensive third.

“I've just said to the lads that they need to make sure that is in place, don't let the frustration of not killing teams off and converting chances stop us defending properly. Prior to the Portsmouth game we were doing so well, we'd only conceded one goal all season, but there was an undercurrent of 'we've got to score, we've got to score'.”

While Parkinson was rightly frustrated to see Sunderland ship two goals at Rochdale on Tuesday night, Wright’s efforts in the centre of the Black Cats’ line of three centre-halves surely would have left a positive impression on his boss.

Wright, who has opened all eight of Sunderland’s League One games this term, achieved SofaScore’s highest match-rating for a visiting player against Rochdale at 7.8 out of 10, only trailing the host’s double-scorer Lund (8.3/10).

The North East outfit’s 28-year-old defender warranted his side’s highest match rating thanks to an impressive tally of 82 touches while completing 57 of his 68 passes, both of which were game-high figures.

He further stood out with a match-high eight clearances and blocked two shots, made one tackle, won four of eight duels, found teammates with 15 of 26 attempted long passes and scored with his only shot of the night.

Wright is now one of just six players to have scored for Sunderland in League One this season, highlighting the Black Cats’ need for goals but also demonstrating how he’s helping the Stadium of Light natives to keep a mostly tight unit at the back.

AND in other news, a promotion rival has pinpointed a major flaw in Phil Parkinson’s tactics that could spell dire consequences for Sunderland.