By
Chris McKenna
BBC Sport journalist
- Published2 minutes ago
Last season's surprise package following promotion are now one of this campaign's strugglers.
Sunderland may be mixing it with illustrious big guns in the Europa League, but they are staring down the barrel of a relegation fight on the domestic front.
Their3-1 defeat by Coventry Cityon Saturday has kept Regis le Bris' side rock bottom of the table after nine games.
Yet in Europe, all is well for the Black Cats.
They are ninth in that table, with only goal difference keeping them out of the top eight and a passage directly to the last 16. They have two wins and a draw from their three games.
And in the Carabao Cup, a 3-2 win overBrentfordin midweek has set up a quarter-final against fellow Premier League strugglersCrystal Palace.
But they have picked up just a point in their three league games that have followed European outings this season, while this defeat against Coventry came on the back of the midweek cup victory.
"They [the players] own the reality of the club, this dynamic, we are growing fast," said Sunderland boss Le Bris. "We are exposed this season with this busy schedule. It's really demanding.
"Is it unexpected? I don't think so. Many clubs last year experienced exactly the same situation. First year in Europe, you know you will have on average 10 fewer points. It's our reality.
"Does it mean we are happy? Absolutely not. We have to get better. We have to play better than we did in the first half. It's hard to be not able to play our football with confidence, with the ability to be ourselves."
