THEY weren’t able to return to winning ways, but at least Sunderland have reconfirmed their ability to mix it with the best sides in League One. Having drawn with a Hull City team that look all-but-certain to finish above them come the end of the season, the Black Cats will have to prove themselves against some other promotion contenders come the play-offs.

It is going to be the end-of-season shoot-outs for the second time in three seasons, with last night’s failure to hold on to two separate leads surely representing the final nail in Sunderland’s coffin when it comes to battling for an automatic-promotion spot.

Seven points adrift of Peterborough, who lost at home to Gillingham last night, and still 11 points behind Hull, albeit with a game in hand, the Black Cats’ fate is all-but sealed. With four games to go, they will be finishing in third position at best.

The main ambition for Lee Johnson and his players now is to ensure they are heading into the play-offs with some wind in their sails, and having gone into last night’s game on the back of three successive defeats, their performance in an entertaining draw provided some cause for optimism.

Jordan Jones and Lynden Gooch carried a threat in attack – the former opened the scoring by converting the latter’s cross – and a midfield comprising Josh Scowen, Carl Winchester and Grant Leadbitter was better balanced than some of the combinations that have been fielded in recent weeks. Leadbitter was Sunderland’s other scorer, converting from the spot towards the end of the first half, and the visitors also hit the woodwork twice.

The Black Cats’ defensive struggles remain a worry, though, with Callum McFadzean faring badly against Hull winger Mallik Wilks as his frailties were once again exposed. Wilks was the provider of both of his side’s goals, delivering crosses that were headed home by Josh Magennis. While Sunderland’s defending has been one of their key strengths for the majority of the season, worryingly, it is now six matches since they last kept a clean sheet.

They were unable to cope with Magennis’ aerial ability last night, and while Luke O’Nien has filled in manfully for the last couple of months, Tom Flanagan’s return could be crucial to their play-off hopes. With Dion Sanderson and Jordan Willis not expected to feature, Sunderland badly need Flanagan back in the fold.

With Aiden McGeady unavailable because of a foot problem last night, supporters of the Black Cats could have been forgiven for wondering where their side’s creativity was going to come from. The answer arrived within the opening ten minutes. Twice, a purposeful Gooch delivered inviting crosses from the right; twice, Jones got onto the end of them to positive effect.

The first delivery arrived in the ninth minute, with Gooch standing up a cross towards the far end of the six-yard box. Jones outjumped his marker at the back post, but while his header thudded against the underside of the crossbar, the ball rebounded to safety without crossing the line. Less than a minute later, though, and the Rangers loanee was making no mistake from another Gooch cross.

This time, Sunderland’s American forward was crossing from close to the touchline, and with former Black Cat George Honeyman finding himself trapped under the high ball, Jones was able to break forward from the edge of the area. He met the ball perfectly, and side-footed a superb first-time effort into the bottom right-hand corner.

It was Jones’ third goal in a Sunderland shirt, but on a night when the action ebbed and flowed repeatedly, its immediate impact was to stir Hull into life.

The leaders came within inches of equalising seven minutes after Jones’ opener, but while Keane Lewis-Potter’s 25-yard free-kick was arcing into the right-hand corner, a scrambling Lee Burge managed to claw the ball around the upright. There was a let-off from the resultant corner, with Hull successfully recycling the ball from the right-hand side, only for a stretching Wilks to fail to make contact as he seemed destined to score from a couple of yards out.

That was a missed opportunity for Hull, but the table-toppers were not to be so profligate when another opportunity presented itself shortly before the half-hour mark.

McFadzean is starting ahead of Denver Hume at the moment, but the full-back was beaten far too easily by Wilks, who was able to cross from the right. Magennis found himself unmarked in the middle, and the Northern Ireland international made no mistake as he headed home from eight yards.

It was another soft concession from a Sunderland perspective, but with Scowen and Winchester providing plenty of movement and energy alongside Leadbitter in midfield, the visitors continued to ask questions of the Hull defence. A couple of minutes after the half-hour mark, those questions resulted in the award of a penalty.

It was a controversial call, made by the assistant, with the ball hitting Callum Elder’s arm from close range as Gooch attempted to skip past him on the right of the box. The Hull full-back’s arm did not appear to be in an unnatural position, but referee Charles Breakspear pointed to the spot, and after taking a moment or two to compose himself, Leadbitter stepped up to roll his spot-kick into the corner.

Leadbitter survived a penalty call of his own in first-half stoppage time, with Hull’s players adamant the ball had struck his arm as he turned in the box, and with the Tigers determined to keep pushing for the win that might have secured them automatic promotion, Burge was called into action again two minutes into the second half. Magennis teed up Wilks for a low driven effort, but Burge got down smartly to save the ball to his left.

While McFadzean was struggling against the lively Wilks, it was a night when the rest of Sunderland’s defensive players put in a decent shift. Leadbitter mopped up repeatedly at the base of midfield, while Max Power, once again filling in at right-back, produced a superb sliding challenge to win the ball in his own penalty area shortly before the hour mark after Honeyman dribbled his way into a crossing position in the box.

Scowen produced an equally significant intervention a few moments later, blocking Magennis’ goal-bound effort from just in front of the goalline after the Hull striker pounced on a loose ball following a scramble from a corner, but with the pressure mounting, the Tigers claimed a deserved leveller in the 64th minute.

Again, Wilks outfoxed McFadzean down the Hull right, and after the winger stood up a cross, Magennis muscled his way onto the ball to claim his second headed goal of the night. Sunderland’s prospective play-off opponents will no doubt have taken note.

Both sides pressed for a winner in the closing stages, but Jones fired over for the Black Cats after creating space on the edge of the box and substitute Aiden O’Brien twice went close in the final few minutes. His first header was saved by Matt Ingram, before his second effort beat the Hull goalkeeper, only for the ball to cannon off the crossbar.