These are the type of games that can come back to haunt you. Against Plymouth, Sunderland enjoyed near-total domination, created chance after chance, had 24 shots, were twice denied by the woodwork, but failed to score and made the 400-mile journey home emptyhanded.

At the other end, Argyle managed just two shots on target, scored two goals, and took all three points. There was little wrong with the performance, Sunderland just needed to be more 'ruthless', said Tony Mowbray, as he again highlighted the youth and inexperience of his strikers.

There have been several games this season - defeats at Preston and Stoke, and at home against Cardiff, and a draw at ten-man Swansea, spring to mind - that have panned out in a similar fashion. Points that have slipped through Sunderland's fingers which might well come back to bite them further down the line.

Of course, the Black Cats are still well-placed. They sit ninth in the the table - seven places and five points better off than they were at the same stage last season, when they ended up securing a play-off spot on the final day.

But if Sunderland miss out on a play-off place by the odd point or three this time around, it will be games like Plymouth away and those other examples listed above that supporters will point to. Worryingly, Sunderland will go into December, with the season more than a third of the way through, and their four specialist strikers, Nazariy Rusyn, Luis Hemir, Eliezer Mayenda, and on-loan Chelsea man Mason Burstow, have yet to get off the mark.

Sunderland have scored 27 goals in 17 games, but how much better off might they be had those strikers chipped in with even a very modest five goals between them? The Black Cats sold Ross Stewart on deadline day for a fee of around £10m but have not adequately replaced him - at least, not in the short term.

Stewart spent two thirds of last season out of action through injury, yet he still scored ten goals and ended the campaign as the club's second-top scorer to play a crucial part in the club reaching the play-offs. The signs are that Sunderland will have to go back into the transfer market in January if they are to find a striker capable of helping them sustain a play-off challenge this term.

Because that is essentially all that is missing. Sunderland are creating chances and getting into good positions, they just lack that all-important cutting edge.

At Plymouth, that shortcoming was compounded by conceding two poor goals. Morgan Whittaker's opener midway through the first half was a stunning strike, but he was able to cut inside Niall Huggins from the right wing far too easily before letting fly.

And then Finn Azaz was afforded too much space in the right-hand channel as he got into the penalty area, checked inside Luke O'Nien and made it 2-0 five minutes before half-time. Jobe Bellingham and Trai Hume hit the post either side of the break, Rusyn missed a good chance, sub Adil Aouchiche sent an effort narrowly wide, and O'Nien and Jack Clarke were both denied by goalkeeper Michael Cooper.

It was one of those days. And too many days like these can prove costly come May.