SUNDERLAND’S pre-season preparations continued with a 2-0 defeat to League Two Bradford City as the lack of depth in Alex Neil’s squad was exposed.

With Jack Clarke and Jack Diamond pressed into service as makeshift strikers, Sunderland failed to seriously threaten Harry Lewis in the Bradford goal.

Emmaneul Osadebe opened the scoring for the Bantams at the start of the second half, with Jamie Walker rolling home a second goal from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining.

With the start of the new Championship season now less than a fortnight away, Neil opted to change all 11 members of the side that started Saturday’s 2-0 win at Dundee United.

Aji Alese made his first start in Sunderland colours as part of a re-modelled back three, while Clarke and Diamond were forced into action as makeshift centre-forwards with the Black Cats having been unable to sign a striker so far this summer.

With neither player looking particularly comfortable in their new attacking roles, Sunderland failed to create a meaningful opportunity in a lacklustre first half.

Bradford weren’t much better, but what little threat there was before the break tended to come from the Bantams, overseen on the touchline by their manager, Mark Hughes.

A sliding Andy Cook just failed to connect on the edge of the six-yard box after former Middlesbrough full-back Andy Halliday slide a low cross across the box, before Alese produced a smart block to prevent Jamie Walker from hitting the target with a goal-bound effort.

Danny Batth produced the best moment of the first half, with an excellent tackle to prevent Lee Angol from squaring the ball across goal after he had been left one-on-one with the Bradford forward.

Sunderland finally recorded their first effort on target three minutes after the interval, but it came to nothing when Lynden Gooch fired a low strike straight at Bantams goalkeeper Harry Lewis after cutting into the box from the right-hand side.

Three minutes later, and the Black Cats were behind as Emmanuel Osadebe opened the scoring for Bradford.

Osadebe cut in from the left, and after getting ahead of Batth, the Bantams winger slid a low finish across Jacob Carney and into the far corner.

Sunderland substitute Harrison Sohna went close with a long-range effort, but the visitors never really looked like equalising, and Bradford extended their lead with 15 minutes left.

Gooch’s error handed possession to Walker, and the Black Cats wing-back then compounded his initial error by tugging his opponent to the floor. Walker dusted himself down, and calmly converted from the spot.


Bradford (4-3-3): Lewis; Halliday (Threlkeld 46), Platt (Cousin-Dawson 77), Crichlow (Staunton 66), Foulds (Scales 77); East (Oliver 66), Smallwood (Young 77), Osadebe (Songo’o 66); Walker (Wood 77), Angol (Pointon 77), Cook (Harratt 66).

Subs (not used): Richardson (gk)

Sunderland (3-5-2): Carney; Winchester, Batth, Alese; Gooch, Embleton, Matete, O’Nien, Taylor (Sohna 61); Clarke, Diamond.

Subs: Patterson, Richardson, Neil, Stewart, Wright, Evans, Hume, Cirkin, Pritchard, Roberts, Ballard, Dajaku.