JUST about the only thing Sunderland are unable to draw at present is any comfort from the way they continue to fritter away precious leads as the doubts over their ability to secure automatic promotion continue to gnaw away at Jack Ross.

From a glass half-full perspective, a third consecutive sharing of the spoils leaves the Wearsiders a point nearer to the summit given the ongoing jitters of leaders Portsmouth, who they now trail by four. However, it is the chasing pack, led by Charlton Athletic and Barnsley, looming ominously in the rear-view mirror, which is of equal concern to the manager given the 12 points his side have surrendered when being pegged back from winning positions half a dozen times this season.

“Only two defeats this season tells one story,” the Scot reflected, after a game Sunderland could easily have lost had it not been for the excellence of goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin. The manager added: “However, 11 draws tells another story.” Three points for a win was introduced almost 40 years ago, and how Ross must hanker back to the days of two points rewarding a victory, given the number of times Sunderland have been unable to press home an advantage this season.

Ross cut a frustrated figure as he successfully dodged the Glanford Park pitch sprinkler system in his post-match assessment. “We shouldn’t have to score two goals to win games,” he said. Sunderland have failed to find the net more than once in their last seven league games, and he added: “Collectively we need to get better at seeing games out from winning positions and keeping more clean sheets. We’ve not kept enough clean sheets this season and that criticism is not just aimed at the goalkeeper and defenders, but the team. It’s aimed at all of us, me and my staff included because we aren’t doing enough of it.”

Jimmy Dunne made a steady enough debut at centre-back after Jack Baldwin succumbed to illness, and Ross added: “I couldn’t have asked any more of him. But as much as a lot of the defenders have done fine individually, as a unit, I mean the whole team, we’ve not found a chemistry to enable us to keep clean sheets and see games out.

“We need to get better at it because that could be the difference between us getting what we want this season and not. We can see that from how the table’s panning out. We’re still in an okay position but we’ve missed out on opportunities because of our inability to keep clean sheets.”

Sunderland took a somewhat unexpected lead when Josh Maja stole in at the near post to glance home an inviting cross from the excellent Reece James. The 20-year-old had barely had a kick in the previous 58 minutes and looked off the pace following his return from illness, but like any decent striker, still had a major influence on the game despite his relative anonymity thanks to a 16th goal of the season, 15 of them in the league.

For all their thoughts of what might have been, Sunderland should have been three goals down inside the contest’s opening quarter. Lee Novak, once of Wallsend Boys Club, Newcastle Blue Star and Gateshead, volleyed straight at McLaughlin from close range before the Sunderland keeper blocked a George Thomas effort at the near post after the visitors were carved open with alarming ease in a three-man move instigated by ex-Middlesbrough defender Tony McMahon.

From the resulting corner, James Perch, the former Newcastle midfielder, sent a free header from half a dozen yards over, before McLaughlin capped a busy first-half with a smart stop to deny Funso Ojo.

An even better save followed late on to keep out a deflected Perch volley, with the keeper showing presence of mind to kick the loose ball to safety as two opponents bore down on goal hoping to profit from the rebound.

However, as the anticipation of returning north with three points grew, there was nothing McLaughlin could do about the equaliser. It was fully deserved, and arrived three minutes from time, thrashed into the top corner from the edge of the area by Adam Hammill, the substitute making an instant impact on his debut after joining this month from Ross’ old club St Mirren.

The manager’s assertion that his side need more clean sheets seems harsh on McLaughlin given the continued excellent of his displays, but it is in no way an implied criticism from the Scot, and the keeper concurred with his manager’s stark assessment.

Asked if this current run is likely to prove costly to their hopes of a top-two finish in May, he said: “The most frustrating part is that we’re not actually losing a lot of ground because Portsmouth have been losing games and other teams are dropping points around us. Nobody’s running away.

“That’s the frustration. If we could turn those draws into wins, we’d be sitting in a fantastic position but it’s the same for everyone. Everyone can beat everyone and that’s why you don’t see teams running away with it. It’s a long season and there’s still a long way to go.

“We’re not satisfied with where we are but we’re happy with what we’ve done so far. We know we’re one of the only teams with a lot more to give and we can improve quite significantly. Other teams can’t say that.”