GLASS half-full or glass half-empty? It is the question that has attached itself to Sunderland ever since Jack Ross walked into the club in the wake of relegation from the Championship, and after another night of mixed messages as the Black Cats drew with Rotherham United on Tuesday, it is still no closer to being answered.

Understandably, Ross wants to accentuate the positives, as underlined by his tetchy mood at Monday’s pre-match press conference when even the weekend’s win at Accrington Stanley was portrayed as a pretty poor show in the TV section of the interviews.

By the end of Tuesday evening, Ross was having to concede that his side’s inability to keep clean sheets is a concern, but the basic thrust of his argument still stands. Sunderland are fourth in the League One standings, four points off top spot with a game in hand on two of the three sides above them. They have suffered just one defeat in ten league and cup matches. By any measure, that is a decent start to the season.

And yet…For all that Sunderland remain on course for another promotion push, last season’s failure to get out of League One continues to provide the backdrop for all that happens during the current campaign. Every missed step or opportunity spurned lends itself to the drawing of parallels with similar setbacks last term. If Ross was unable to win promotion before, why should things be any different this time around? It is a narrative that ignores the changes that have been enacted over the summer, but nevertheless remains one that is hard to dispel while the draws continue to mount.

“There's two ways of looking at how we've started the season,” said striker Marc McNulty, whose first-minute strike represented such a positive start against Rotherham. “There’s the negative people who look at it and think, ‘Ah, draws, not enough wins’, and there’ll be positive people who say we got beaten at Peterborough but other than that it’s been a good start, and I’d look at it that way myself.

“We’re four points off the top with a game in hand. You win that, and everybody says that’s great. It’s very fine margins. If we’d won on Tuesday we’d be right up there with a game in hand. It’s a long season with a lot of games left to play. The boys are positive and the manager’s positive, we’ve just got to go to Bolton and try to get the three points.”

In fairness to Ross and his players, it is not as if anyone is running away from them at the top of the table. In truth, that was the same at this stage of last season – Luton Town and Barnsley did not really start to generate their promotion-winning momentum until just before Christmas – but Sunderland are far from the only side currently struggling to hit top form.

Ipswich Town look strong, but failed to score against Doncaster in their last home game. Peterborough United are scoring for fun, but threw away a two-goal lead on Tuesday as they shipped two goals in five second-half minutes to Tranmere Rovers. Portsmouth, Sunderland’s play-off rivals from last term, have gone four league games without a victory.

For all the grumbling that accompanied Tuesday’s final whistle, the Black Cats remain firmly in the promotion mix. And if they overcome a Bolton Wanderers side that have still not recorded a victory this season when they travel to the North-West on Saturday, they could easily find themselves back in the top two.

That will still not be good enough for some, and an interesting debate is brewing amongst the Sunderland fanbase as to where expectations should be levelled. Does the Black Cats’ size and stature, not to mention the impending takeover that will see the 25th-richest man in the world attach himself to the club, mean they should be running away with the title? Or does the club have to regard itself as an unexceptional League One club with unexceptional League One players? Perhaps the mere fact there is a debate to be had highlights the unique set of circumstances in which Ross and his players find themselves operating.

“One of the good things with big clubs is that the expectations keep players on their toes,” said McNulty. “It’s hard to describe the feeling, but you know as soon as you cross that line, you’ve got a massive crowd that’s on your back.

“It works both ways. If it’s good, they drag you along and they definitely help you. If you’re not pulling your weight and not performing, they’re going to be there voicing their opinion and rightly so. The boys know that.

“That’s what you sign up for at a big club like this. I like that, and hopefully over the course of the season, we’ll thrive on it.”