Poll: Did Preston draw do much to allay the ongoing fears of Sunderland fans?

Yesterday’s 2-2 draw with Preston North End was a frenetic affair, and in some ways it was a difficult game to digest. Looking through social media after the game, it felt like fans were split on whether the scruffy draw was a good result, or a bad one.

Of course many were disappointed by the fact that 3 points would have been a much welcomed gift - especially considering out current league position. Meanwhile others argued the fact that they would have taken a draw at the beginning of the day against a side sitting pretty in the top 4.

Ultimately, we decided to ask your opinion on the matter via a poll on Twitter.

It’s a tight one, with just over half of those polled suggesting that they’re still anxious about the season ahead, whilst 45% noted that they feel encouraged in the wake of yesterday’s share of the spoils.

At times yesterday we were poor, and to suggest that was a good performance is perhaps a stretch. However, the fact that every player on the pitch battled for the badge, and were able to keep their heads up even after shipping two goals within two minutes shows that Sunderland might well have emerged from yesterday’s clash with a renewed sense of hope and self-confidence.

Then again, one result doesn’t necessarily prove anything. Last Tuesday we were in the depths of despair after being hammered 5-2 against Ipswich, so to suggest this is a turning point in our season might be a tad hopeful.

We’ve now got a fortnight until we welcome QPR to the stadium of light, and if truth be told yesterday’s performance will most likely be welcomed by Grayson and the Lads. Of course a win would have been phenomenal, but Grayson will have learned several important things from yesterday’s game.

Lynden Gooch and George Honeyman looked sharp at times, while the reintroduction of John O’Shea helped secure the defence somewhat - even if we did concede twice in the space of two minutes. Also the return of Duncan Watmore was a fantastic piece of news, and if he can continue to keep frightening defences, then he will be incredibly important if we are to remedy our recent woes.

In all yesterday’s result wasn’t exactly wonderful, but it also wasn’t awful either. It was the kind of game that will have been welcomed by the players as they were able to prove their ability against one of the league’s better sides. Grayson now has two weeks to build on yesterday’s positives in order to fashion a home win against QPR on October 14th.

We’re not quite on the road to redemption, but yesterday certainly provided a glimmer of hope. If we can continue to get the basics right, and fashion goals then we’ll be alright.

Any hopes of promotion are well and truly out of the picture, but this season was always going to be a tricky one to navigate. Fans are understandably nervous, especially considering how poorly we’ve performed in recent games; however, yesterday was the evidence we needed to show that these players can fight and find the back of the net.

Whether yesterday was the start of a reversal in fortunes is anyone’s guess. Many will remain skeptical - and understandably so. Other will be eager to see if we can build on this result, and move up the table. Al we can do now is hope that Grayson can get these Lads playing.