DAN BALLARD insists Sunderland will learn from their difficult start to the new Championship season, and says nobody at the Stadium of Light is panicking over the side’s form.

The Black Cats have lost both of their opening two league games following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Preston, and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by League Two side Crewe Alexandra at the Stadium of Light last week too.

Not since 2016-17, when they were relegated from the Premier League, have Sunderland been beaten in their first two games of a league campaign, but Ballard believes that bad luck, rather than bad performances, is behind their woes.

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“I feel like we do put good performances in and we do create chances,” said the defender. “We’re frustrated now, but I don't think anyone is panicking or getting too caught up in it. 

“It is a reminder that there are going to be many games like this this season, where teams are going to make it really difficult, and we have just got to work even harder to keep the performance levels high.”

As they had been when losing to Ipswich Town on the opening weekend of the season, Sunderland were left to rue two moments of bad fortune which led to goals, as Preston profited through first Will Keane and later Mads Frokjaer. 

Jack Clarke brought Tony Mowbray’s side level from the penalty spot, but despite dominating the bulk of the game, the visitors’ lack of cutting edge in the final third was evident once more, with Mowbray repeating his desire to add a striker to his squad, post-match.

“We created a lot of chances again, and I’m sure on another day they go in the back of the net,” Ballard said. “It’s not like we can’t get near the goal and there are no chances, we got behind their backline five or six times, and on another day we score two or three.

"It was like playing in the same game (as Ipswich), to be honest. They all seem to come at once. Hopefully that’s them done for the season.

“We’re disappointed, but teams aren’t going to score goals like that against us every week. It’s frustrating, but we’ve just got to do more.”

Sunderland are back on home soil on Saturday when they host Rotherham at the Stadium of Light.

“We want to please the fans,” added Ballard. “They don’t turn on us, they stay with us right until the end. We want to show our appreciation back to them and hopefully give them something to shout about.”