LEE JOHNSON has made clear over the past week that he can smell trouble. The Sunderland manager’s task as November begins is to find a cure for the stench before it becomes overpowering.

Johnson admitted that he had a whiff something wasn’t right before his side’s home defeat by Charlton nine days ago, and even though midweek cup progress brought a much sweeter odour, his comments before the trip to Rotherham were tinged with the wariness of a man who knew a nasty surprise might be lurking.

And it was. Perhaps the most sobering aspect of Sunderland’s second four-goal defeat in less than a month was that it was less of a shock than it should have been.

Johnson had seen the warning signs: a lengthening injury list, a demanding fixture programme, and a recent wobble in league form amid the impressive cup displays. It was a bad time to be facing free-scoring promotion rivals. All the same, there were no excuses for the abysmal display that Sunderland produced in losing 5-1. Johnson, at least, did not try to hide behind any.

“I came out before the game and said that we know statistically from our data that Rotherham are pretty much the best side in the league with us and a couple of others,” he said. “So we knew we had to compete, and we didn’t do it.”

Sunderland are going to have to learn to compete far, far better if they are to escape League One. On current form, an automatic promotion place is going to be a stretch. If the league table were to finish as it currently is, they would face Rotherham in the play-off semi-finals. On Saturday’s evidence, Johnson’s side wouldn’t have a prayer.

As the manager reflected on the defeat, he questioned whether lessons had been learned from the 4-0 defeat at Portsmouth with which October began. He wondered whether the solution to two such poor away performances was to rotate his squad, or to change tactics, or to recruit in January. It may be that he needs to do all three.

Johnson was right to highlight the lack of application against Rotherham. All five of the home side’s goals were scored from close range by players who were not properly marked. The imbalance of the squad was also clear to see too: Carl Winchester has been game in attempting to fill the gap at right-back, but never has the midfielder looked less of a defender than he did on Saturday. Too often he was caught out as Shane Ferguson was left free to deliver crosses in his own time, and it only added to the pressure on a creaking back line.

Even if the tactics and quality of play let them down, Sunderland could at least have put up a fight. For a while, it looked as if they might. Ross Stewart’s jinking run in from the left produced an excellent equaliser to cancel out Michael Smith’s headed opener for Rotherham, and the striker was unlucky not to score a second equaliser, his shot striking the inside of the post barely seconds after Freddie Ladapo had swept the home side in front.

If there was a spell that summed up Sunderland’s afternoon, though, it came in the space of three minutes early in the second half. First, goalkeeper Thorben Hoffmann was too easily blocked off by Ladapo at a corner as Michael Ihiekwe rose unchallenged to head Rotherham 3-1 up, and then Aiden McGeady collected a stupid red card for hacking down Ogbene. Further goals for Smith and Ladapo compounded the embarrassment. Hoffmann, in particular, will want to forget about his role in the final goal, taking a loose touch from a back pass, and allowing Joshua Kayode to roll across for Ladapo to score.