TEAMS that win the play-offs tend to enter the end-of-season shootout with a spring in their step. Sunderland, however, are stumbling towards Saturday’s semi-final with Portsmouth like a punch-drunk prize-fighter preparing for the start of the final round. Battered and bruised, they somehow have to find a way of clambering off the canvas to deliver a knockout blow.

Taken in isolation, the 2-1 defeat to Southend United that confirmed Sunderland would finish in fifth position was not overly devastating. Automatic promotion was already impossible, and while it would have been preferable to climb a place or two higher to ensure the second leg of the play-off semi-final would be staged at the Stadium of Light, having to host Portsmouth before heading to Fratton Park should not be an insurmountable obstacle.

What is much more of a worry is that Saturday’s lacklustre showing at Roots Hall formed part of an increasingly alarming pattern. Instead of peaking at the critical stage of the season, Sunderland have slumped at the worst possible time.

They have won just one of their last seven matches, and their last two outings, at Fleetwood and Southend, have witnessed two of their worst performances of the season. Portsmouth have stuttered themselves, failing to win any of their last three games, but their decline has been nowhere near as marked as Sunderland’s. The Black Cats have momentum as they head into the play-off semi-finals – the problem is that it is propelling them downhill.

“You wanted to be going into these matches on the back of a positive run,” admitted Jack Ross. “We’ve not done that because the performance (at Southend) was a long way short of where it needs to be at.

“You’re always judged on the end result, but in recent weeks, while we’ve drawn games or not won them, the performance has been okay, so it’s been easier for me to be positive. When the two go hand in hand, I can be more critical, and we haven’t played well enough, not by a long stretch.”

Saturday’s performance was wretched, with Sunderland outfought by a Southend side that knew they had to win to avoid relegation to League Two. For all their opponents’ deficiencies, the Shrimpers deserve credit for the committed way in which they set about completing their survival act.

To a degree, Sunderland’s players can be excused their lack of urgency, with Tuesday’s defeat at Fleetwood having rendered their final fixture something of a dead rubber. However, Ross can still take two valuable lessons from Saturday’s game.

First, he must surely accept the need to abandon the 4-4-2 formation that contributed to the Black Cats’ below-par showing in the first half at Roots Hall. Playing in a 4-4-2 system does not suit this Sunderland squad, as evidenced by last month’s chaotic 5-4 home defeat to Coventry City, and having set his side up in a similar manner at Southend, Ross once again watched his midfield be overrun.

Charlie Wyke and Will Grigg show no sign of developing a functioning attacking partnership, so 4-4-2 surely has to go. They were still far from fluent, but Sunderland improved when Ross swapped Grigg for Kazaiah Sterling and reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation that has served his side reasonably well this season.

As well as learning tactical lessons, Ross will also have made some harsh assessments when it comes to the personnel that were deployed at Southend. Grigg once again looked short of match fitness, and will surely return to the bench at the weekend. Lynden Gooch was a huge disappointment, and while the American has shown flashes of talent this season, his decision-making regularly leaves a lot to be desired. There is no chance of him starting against Portsmouth.

Similarly, while Grant Leadbitter made a positive impression in his first few matches after signing from Middlesbrough in January, he does not provide the kind of thrust and drive that Lee Cattermole offers. As a result, he too is likely to be back on the bench in five days’ time.

“I think in some cases, it (the performance at Southend) probably gave me more answers than questions in terms of the games that are coming up,” admitted Ross. “They knew there’s an opportunity to be involved in these games that are coming up because I’ve been quite fair in that respect this season.

“Some of the changes we made were enforced, but there were a couple that were trying to bring a bit of freshness to it. When you do that, you’re looking for those that have been given the opportunity to take it. But we just didn’t play well.

“We were a long way short, but it was probably a team that will vary considerably from the team that plays in the play-offs. That’s the truth.”

The one major positive Ross can take into Saturday’s game is that while his side have failed to beat Portsmouth on three occasions this season, their record against the leading teams in the league is reasonably good.

They were unbeaten against Luton and Barnsley, the teams that won automatic promotion, and also beat Charlton Athletic and Doncaster Rovers, the sides involved in the other play-off semi-final, at the Stadium of Light.

“The defeat at Fratton Park is the only game we’ve lost to any of the teams in the top seven,” said Ross. “That’s a positive obviously. We lost the Checkatrade final, but it was a draw over the course of the game.

“I do feel as if the players have generally responded well to playing against the best teams in the league and the bigger atmospheres. That’s something we’ll stress to the players.

“We’ve got an opportunity to reset and refocus now. You can’t just sweep everything under the carpet from the last couple of weeks, but the truth now is that it becomes about focus and having a big focus on this game on Saturday and the second leg the following midweek.”

Neither Ross nor his players will spend too long stewing on Saturday’s defeat, which was thoroughly deserved, even if it did come courtesy of a late strike.

Southend would have been two or three ahead at the interval had Dru Yearwood displayed even a modicum of composure when presented with two excellent first-half chances, but as it was, they took a one-goal lead into the break when John White hooked an overhead kick into the net after Sunderland’s defenders failed to deal with Stephen McLaughlin’s corner.

The Black Cats had a decent penalty shout turned down when Wyke’s run into the box appeared to be blocked midway through the second half, but Darren Bond finally pointed to the spot when White bundled Wyke to the floor with 14 minutes left. Chris Maguire stepped up, and while Mark Oxley got a good hand to his shot, the ball ended up in the corner of the net.

With Plymouth winning against Scunthorpe, Southend were going down at that stage, but Kevin Bond’s side saved themselves with three minutes left.

Sunderland’s defenders were at fault again, with no one picking up Stephen Humphrys as he swooped on a loose ball in the box. The substitute had time to pick his spot, with his strike prefacing a post-match pitch invasion that underlined just how much the win meant to Southend.

Sunderland’s task now is to set up similarly euphoric scenes of their own in the next three games.