WHERE on earth would Sunderland be without Jack Clarke? Michael Beale claims that any club in the Championship would be heavily reliant on a player as talented as Sunderland’s number 20, but there is no escaping Clarke’s immense importance to the Black Cats’ cause. As long as the winger is on the field, Sunderland carry a threat.

His 12th goal of an increasingly stellar season dug his side out of a considerable hole at the New York Stadium last night, enabling them to claim a point against the Championship’s bottom club and at least partially masking the attacking inadequacies of his team-mates.

For long periods of a largely frustrating night, Sunderland toiled ineffectively in the final third. Whenever Clarke was in possession, however, it felt as though a goal might be just around the corner.

The 23-year-old’s fate in next month’s transfer window is likely to make or break Sunderland’s season, with Premier League suitors licking their lips as they wait in the wings. Hold on to Clarke, and the Black Cats can realistically aim for the play-offs under new head coach, Beale. Lose him, however, and it is hard to see how they could possibly plug the gap that he would leave in his wake.

Last night’s equaliser, which cancelled out Sam Clucas’ volleyed opener for Rotherham, came courtesy of a hefty deflection, but the fact that Clarke was willing to pull the trigger when Viktor Johansson’s punch fell into his path made him stand out from his team-mates. While the rest of the Sunderland side is shot-shy, Clarke cannot wait to fire at goal.

The Black Cats needed his brilliance to claim a point, having attacked aimlessly for more than 70 minutes against a well-drilled Rotherham defence. The Millers might have beaten Middlesbrough on Boxing Day, but they still went into last night’s game sitting at the foot of the table and, from the outset, it was clear their gameplan was based on containment rather than anything more ambitious or expansive.

A five-man backline stretched across Rotherham’s defensive half, with a bank of four midfielders sitting ten yards or so in front of them. Not really interested in holding on to the ball, the Millers were more than happy to cede possession to Sunderland and challenge their opponents to break them down.

The Black Cats’ task was not helped by the 14th-minute injury that forced Patrick Roberts from the field, with the winger going down with a muscular problem after clearing the ball from inside his own half.

Abdoullah Ba came on to replace him, but it was another five minutes before Sunderland fashioned their first shooting opportunity, and even that was a half-chance at best with Dan Neil flashing a 25-yard drive wide of the target.

Rotherham barely made it into the Sunderland half in the opening 20 minutes, but midway through the first half, they suddenly fashioned three excellent opportunities in the space of 60 seconds. It was only thanks to the brilliance of Anthony Patterson that the scoresheet remained blank.

Patterson’s first save saw him leave his line to block a shot from Sam Nombe after Jordan Hugill’s through ball sent the Millers striker scampering clear of the Sunderland defence. From the resultant corner, Nombe fashioned a front-post flick that Patterson clawed onto the crossbar, then as the visiting defence struggled to clear their lines, Nombe fired in a low driven effort that Patterson did superbly to turn around the post. The chances had come from nowhere, but Sunderland’s goalkeeper had to be at his absolute best to keep them out.

At the other end, Sunderland toiled with limited effect, which has tended to be the story of their season in the final third. Jobe Bellingham started the game as the central striker, but was quickly dropped back with Adil Aouchiche going through the middle. Neither really looked like troubling the Rotherham goal, once again highlighting the obvious need for an attacking acquisition next month.

Hugill might have his limitations, but at least the Teessider gave the Rotherham attack a focal point to play around. For long periods, Sunderland’s forward line had a gaping gap where their number nine should have been.

Michael Beale at least turned to Mason Burstow at the half-time interval in an attempt to address his side’s inadequacies, but before the Chelsea loanee had had a chance to get himself into the game, his side found themselves trailing.

Hugill crossed from the right, with Pierre Ekwah’s clearing header looping towards Clucas, who was loitering just outside the 18-yard box. It didn’t really look like a goalscoring opportunity, but Clucas fired in a superb first-time volley that arced into the top left-hand corner. Clucas turned 33 in September, but in more than a decade of service to a number of different Football League clubs, he cannot have hit many sweeter strikes.

Sunderland’s best chance of an equaliser always looked like it would come from Clarke, but while the winger created a shooting opportunity for himself via a one-two with Ba, his shot went sailing over the crossbar. Not for the first time this season, though, if Clarke wasn’t looking to create something from nothing, it didn’t really look like a Black Cats goal was coming.

Luke O’Nien flashed a long-range effort narrowly wide of the target midway through the second half, but sure enough, when the visitors equalised with 17 minutes remaining, it was thanks to Clarke.

Alex Pritchard, whose introduction as a 63rd-minute substitute unquestionably helped to increase the potency of Sunderland’s attacking threat, crossed from the right, with Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johansson punching the ball in Clarke’s direction. The winger’s long-range strike took a hefty deflection off Jamie Lindsay, with the ball looping beyond Johansson.