Danny Graham offered another ineffective performance from the bench for Sunderland in their 2-2 draw with Rochdale on Tuesday night.

Black Cats boss Phil Parkinson once again opted to only name his summer capture among the substitutes for their visit to the Crown Oil Arena, having seen the 35-year-old fail to open his account over the opening seven weeks of the League One season.

Parkinson will be hoping to see better from Graham over the remainder of the campaign, as the forward released by Blackburn Rovers this summer has so far continued his struggles in red and white after striking just twice in 42 appearances during a spell at the Stadium of Light between 2013 and 2016, following a £5million move from Swansea City.

Parkinson was pleased to have welcomed Graham back to the North East as a free agent this summer, noting via quotes by the Chronicle: “I’m delighted to welcome Danny to the club.

“He provides us with another option and more competition at the top end of the pitch, and he is another excellent addition to the squad.”

Graham was unable to demonstrate his excellence at the Crown Oil Arena where a brace from Rochdale’s Matthew Lund countered Charlie Wyke and Bailey Wright’s efforts and ensured Sunderland were held to a third draw of the league season and fell from the play-off positions.

The Black Cats are now seven points down on early league-leaders Lincoln City, too, and boast one of the third-tier’s most average offences with 10 goals scored over eight games the 11th-best record among the 24 teams to date.

Parkinson opted to wait until the 82nd-minute before calling on Graham to try and salvage a win at Rochdale on Tuesday, but would have been left disappointed by how the veteran centre-forward failed to make a positive impression on proceedings.

Graham managed to register just two touches of the ball during his time on the field, with which he played just one pass and took one shot, which SofaScore marked as being a big chance to score but one that he wasted.

Their data also shows that the Gateshead-born forward lost each of his only ground and aerial duels and committed one foul whilst spearheading the attack.

But Graham was actually marginally more effective against Rochdale than he was against Portsmouth on Saturday. The former Swansea hitman failed to register a single effort on goal, a touch of the ball, was caught offside once and committed one foul during his eight minutes on the field as Sunderland’s unbeaten start to the season reached its end.

Another slack performance, however, will ensure Parkinson is in no rush to hand Graham his third start of the League One season when the Black Cats hit the road and visit Gillingham on Saturday.

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