Ross Stewart insists he never doubted his ability to score goals in the Championship. Stewart was Sunderland's 26-goal top scorer last term, with his finishing powering the club to promotion via the play-offs, and earning him a Scotland call-up.
But the step up to the Championship was another test, and so far it is one that he has passed with flying colours with two goals in his first three appearances - netting the winner in last weekend's victory at Bristol City, followed by the opener in Sunderland's 2-2 draw at home to QPR on Saturday. "It was never really something I was worried about and always felt with my goal return last year I could score at this level," said the 26-year-old, who was a reported target for Scottish giants Rangers over the summer.
"It was nice to get off the mark as quickly as I can and I think there is more to my game than goals. I'm still trying to do my best in terms of linking up and being a threat, it is my first stint at this level as well.
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"Hopefully there are more to come."
Sunderland still have the majority of the squad that earned promotion and to an extent they are still adjusting to life in the top tier although they have made a solid start, remaining unbeaten in their first three games and collecting five points along the way. Asked about the difference between League One and the Championship, Stewart said "It's probably just mistakes get punished.
"There are things like that tactically that are a lot different this year to last year and there are probably fewer chances in the games because you are up against better players so you need to be more clinical. I'm enjoying the challenge and hopefully the goals keep coming."
While chances are more scarce in the Championship for strikers, there are also differences at the other end where team are ruthless in front of goal. Sunderland found that to their cost on Saturday when first-half goals from Stewart and on-loan Everton man Ellis Simms had put them on course for victory, only for QPR to salvage a point with two goals in the final five minutes.
First Ilias Chair curled home an unstoppable free-kick three minutes from the end of the 90, and then in the second minute of injury time goalkeeper Seny Dieng came forward for a corner and stunned the Stadium of Light as he headed the equaliser. Stewart said: "It's a really tough one to take, obviously there are ways to concede goals late on but the opposition keeper scoring is not one that ever comes into your head.
"There is no shying away, we are obviously disappointed but we also have to realise how good we were for 70 minutes of that game and if we can just tidy up on the last ten it will stand us in good stead. I think as a squad it is the first time for a lot of us in this division and we are probably realising that little mistakes get punished at this level.
"We have to learn quickly because there is no rest this season with the amount of games. They are things I’m sure the manager will coach us through and we'll learn as a team.
"At the same time you have to as players go out and implement it. It's difficult to find a good word of how the last five minutes went but for the first 85 I thought we were the better team and in the first half played some excellent football."
Sunderland continue their campaign on Wednesday night when they travel to Bramall Lane to take on Sheffield United, and Stewart says they must put the disappointment against QPR to one side, adding: "With games coming up starting on Wednesday night we have to put that to the back of our heads and focus on the next game now."
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