Sunderland's goalless draw at Charlton Athletic was a game of contradictions. On the one hand, the return of Nathan Broadhead after two-and-a-half months on the sidelines, a positive performance - including a first-half display that Alex Neil described as the best football of his five-game tenure - in which Sunderland dominated possession, created a hatful of chances, and in which they denied the Addicks so much as a single shot on target.
On the other, there was also frustration, disappointment, and misery. Frustration at Sunderland's inability to take their chances, disappointment at two dropped points in the race for a play-off place, and the misery of seeing your most influential player hobble out of the action with an injury that could rule him out of all or part of the run-in.
It says a lot about Alex Pritchard's importance to Sunderland that his injury is potentially more significant than the two points dropped at The Valley. On any other day, the fact that Sunderland had collected only a point from a game they should have won at such a crucial point in the season would have been the takeaway.
But it was the sight of Pritchard being helped from the field 15 minutes from time that was the most worrying aspect of the afternoon. Pritchard is Sunderland's best player and arguably the best player in the entire division.
Neil said the midfielder had rolled his ankle and, while he will need a scan to determine the extent of the damage, the head coach admitted it 'did not look good'. With only ten games now remaining, and with Sunderland engaged in a desperate scrap for a play-off place, losing Pritchard for a lengthy period at this point would be a huge blow.
Elliot Embleton and Patrick Roberts are potential replacements for Pritchard, but to expect either of them to match his level on a consistent basis would be to place a large burden on their shoulders. Yet, assuming Pritchard's injury is as bad as Neil fears, it is a challenge one of them must meet if Sunderland are to make the top six.
In any event. Sunderland certainly cannot afford more games like this, where they do more than enough to win and yet end up ruing missed opportunities. Dennis Cirkin saw a header turned round the post by goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray.
Pritchard saw a free-kick turned over the bar, while League One's leading scorer Ross Stewart had four headed chances but could not put any of them away. And that was just in the first half.
In the second, Broadhead - who started and looked bright on his return from the hamstring injury he suffered before Christmas - saw a shot blocked, Cirkin saw a shot cleared off the line, and MacGillivray saved an effort from Stewart. So there was no shortage of chances, only a failure to find a finish.
At the other end, Neil's decision to change system and employ a back three of Carl Winchester, Bailey Wright, and Arbenit Xhemajli, largely nullified Charlton's attacking threat. That said, Charlton could have stolen all three points with the last kick of the match when Jayden Stockley fired across the face of goal with Sam Lavelle just inches away from making contact as he slid in at the far post.
But had Charlton won, it would have been a travesty. Sunderland outplayed them, outfought them, out-thought them, created enough chances to win two or three games.
The problem is, that a draw against an out-of-form Charlton side that went into the game on the back of five successive defeats was not good enough. Not when you find yourself fighting for a play-off place.
The draw meant Sunderland slipped out of the top six. Fifth-placed Wycombe are a point ahead of them.
Sheffield Wednesday occupy sixth spot, are ahead of Sunderland on goal difference and have a game in hand of them. Plymouth, who are immediately below Sunderland in eighth place, are just a point behind and have two games in hand.
Ninth-placed Ipswich are not far behind, and Bolton could enter the mix if they win their games in hand. So every point matters.
'We didn't get what we deserved,' said Neil in his post-match press conference. As a precis of this game in isolation, that summed it up perfectly.
But as far as the bigger picture is concerned, if Sunderland miss out on a play-off place because of the flaky form they have shown since the turn of the year, it will be exactly what they deserve. Somehow, Pritchard or no Pritchard, Neil must ensure they avoid that fate.
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