Sunderland 1 Blackpool 1

And in the end Jack Ross, his Black Cats players and fans were indebted to an unlikely goalscoring hero - Jack Baldwin - for avoiding defeat in front of another crowd in excess of 27,000 at the Stadium of Light.

Things could have been worse for Sunderland after striker Armand Gnanduillet gave a first-half lead to the Seasiders that was well deserved, given the way they approached the trip to Wearside.

• Ross convinced Sunderland still well placed for promotion

Will Grigg, the £4m striker, summed up Sunderland’s frustrations by missing two glorious chances, one in each half, on a night when it seemed his new team would not be able to find that bit of magic in the final third. The second on his home debut will be one he will particularly struggle to forget.

But Baldwin’s header got him off the hook, even if the boos at the half-time and the full-time whistles illustrated the current mood at Sunderland – who have still closed the gap to Barnsley in second to four points.

And the Black Cats, who have won just three of their last nine unbeaten games in League One, have yet to score more than one in a league game for the first time since before Christmas. That has become a nuisance, even if Sunderland have scored in every league game this season.

Even though Sunderland were only five points shy of the second automatic promotion spot beforehand, there is no disguising that everyone connected with the club had set their sights on a strong return from this run of three home games in a row.

But anyone who had taken more time to look at the table would have seen that play-off chasers Blackpool boasted the joint-best defence in the division and kept 15 clean sheets.

It was hardly the most promising sign for a Sunderland side that had failed to score two in a league game since December 15, form that has seen them lose ground on leaders Luton.

That is why Ross needed a big performance in front of the home fans and turned to Grigg, Duncan Watmore and Aiden McGeady to deliver.

Watmore and Lynden Gooch were two of three changes, with Luke O’Nien recalled at right-back, to the side that was left frustrated at Oxford United on Saturday, in a further indication that Ross is struggling to settle on a selection.

Initially his latest moves looked like they could work. Sunderland started rather promisingly and displayed a hunger to push on. The problem was they struggled to carve open the reliable visiting defence.

The only efforts Sunderland had to show for that spell, however, was two quick corners early on from Grant Leadbitter.

His first would have curled straight in had goalkeeper Mark Howard not been alert to turn away, and the second was quickly taken and he ended up having the space to shoot into the Blackpool No 1.

But Blackpool were encouraged to push on more, so they did. Even if lone striker Gnanduillet looked like he could spend the game isolated initially, he was soon supported by orange shirts who were confident enough to attack.

That said Sunderland goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin hadn’t had too much to do either, until the game changed inside a frantic 60 seconds just after half an hour when the home side was made to pay for wasting a glorious chance.

After Baldwin had carried the ball out, Watmore was played in behind the defence down the right flank. He spotted Grigg on the move and unmarked on the left, but the striker drilled a shot straight at Howard when he should have at least tested him more.

That proved costly. Blackpool, relieved, immediately went on the attack and caught Sunderland off guard, much to the frustration of Ross who could not hide his disappointment in his technical area.

There was still plenty of work for Gnanduillet to do on the edge of the area but the Frenchman, who has worked his way back up after spending a few years in the non-league, powered an effort inside McLaughlin’s bottom right corner.

Given Sunderland’s problems in front of goal this year, it was never going to be easy for them to get back into it and their best chance to do that in the first half was when McGeady shaved the right-hand post with a free-kick from 20 yards.

There was almost a repeat of the opener, as Blackpool went straight on the attack. They forced a corner and the surprising thing was that defender Ben Heneghen didn’t capitalise with the opening when he headed over from Liam Feeney’s corner.

Ross was not the only man unhappy. Supporters greeted the half-time whistle with boos and that did get a reaction from the same set of players immediately after the restart, but it didn’t last long.

Within five minutes Blackpool’s players felt they should have had a penalty when Gooch, who had just handed possession back to the visitors at the other end, appeared to trip Antony Evans.

Referee Carl Boyeson, who had correctly waved away an O’Nien spot-kick shout in the first half, was having none of it.

From there on in Sunderland showed more attacking intent, with Watmore leading the charge more often than not. He had already dragged a low shot wide of the far post when he then darted at the defence moments later and picked out Charlie Wyke in the box.

Wyke, who had replaced Gooch after an uninspiring display in the middle rather than out wide, then turned and saw a difficult shot blocked when he ought to have laid the ball off for Honeyman lurking on the edge of the area unmarked.

There was an even more glaring miss to come just after the hour.

When Baldwin played a lovely pass forward, Grigg knocked the ball beyond Howard and had the empty goal ahead of him. While at an angle, it was by no means difficult, and he somehow found the side-netting when he had no Blackpool player near him.

With Sunderland’s forwards struggling, Baldwin took matters into his own hands. He charged upfield as Leadbitter shaped to take a corner and when the delivery was floated to the centre of the box, the former Hartlepool United defender headed down and beyond Howard.

It was then a case of if Sunderland could add that match-deciding second. The answer was no, and in fact there was nothing really to seriously worry Howard and Blackpool left with a point.