Alex Neil happy with Sunderland showing in Championship draw with Coventry

Alex Neil admitted Viktor Gyokeres’ equaliser in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw with Coventry proved the difference between playing in the Championship and life in League One.

Sunderland looked to be heading for an opening-weekend victory when Jack Clarke headed home Lynden Gooch’s cross to open the scoring in the 12th minute at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats soaked up Coventry pressure, with Anthony Patterson producing a superb save as he tipped Jonathan Panzo’s long-range strike onto the crossbar, but their hopes of claiming all three points disappeared when Gyokeres struck with six minutes remaining.

The Sweden international swerved past two defenders before hammering a superb strike into the bottom right-hand corner, and, having guided his side to promotion via the play-offs last season, Neil admits you do not encounter a similar standard of opponent in League One.

The Sunderland boss said: “I thought we gave a good account of ourselves. I thought we were organised, and we made it really difficult for them. Let’s be honest, we’d be talking about a great result here if it wasn’t for one moment of quality.

“We switch off, don’t get down the line quick enough and let him turn, but even then, it’s a great goal. It’s not as if we’ve made an error and they’ve had a tap in. The lad’s had to turn, dip past two players and bang the ball in the bottom corner. That’s the quality of the Championship.”

Nevertheless, Neil was happy with his players’ efforts as Sunderland returned to the second tier after a four-year absence, with Coventry goalkeeper Simon Moore making a fine second-half save from Ross Stewart.

He said: “You don’t know how players are going to react. We’ve still got a lot of work to do in the window in terms of