Sunderland's trip to Ipswich may have ended in disappointment having been in a position to take all three points, but there were positive defensive signs from Michael Beale's side on the road albeit plenty still to work on. 

It may sound silly given the manner in which the Black Cats conceded their second goal at Portman Road, but there was certainly a huge slice of luck for Ipswich Town's equaliser.

On the whole, Sunderland defended well, as they did at home to Leeds United, on the road at Hull City and for the opening half an hour against Newcastle United.

The Wearsiders pressed high under former boss Tony Mowbray, turning the ball over in dangerous areas of the pitch, but have looked more pragmatic away from home since Beale's arrival with a mid-block frustrating the opposition.

It's something Liam Rosenior noted following the win over Hull City on Boxing Day and we saw a repeat of that set-up at Portman Road at the weekend.

"I expected them to press us from the off, they sat in the mid-block and I think they were trying to hit us on the counter-attack and where the space was still was in behind, but we didn't quite see it in the first half," the Hull City boss said. "We rectified that at half-time and showed them where the space was. Tyler Morton made a great run in the first minute. We get him down the side and win the ball back. We have a great chance with Aaron (Connolly) and can't quite score."

We saw a similar, if not identical set-up against Ipswich and it worked a treat in frustrating the hosts.

Much has been made of Beale's decision not to play a striker against the Tractorboys, something he rebuffed at full-time, but the Sunderland head coach explained his reasoning for doing so, rightly pointing out the success they had with Alex Pritchard and Jobe Bellingham in frustrating the opposition.

"We did play with a striker," Beale said at full-time. "We played with Jobe there - he can play there and he has played there in games that we have won. We've got three young strikers [Eliezer Mayenda, Luis Hemir, and on-loan Chelsea man Burstow] who are adjusting to the league, I think it's fair to say, and we've got another [Rusyn] who has done well.

"But I just thought the connection of the team was better with Pritchard playing off Jobe. It's a situation I inherited, it's something I am working away at.

"Since I came in, Naz has had more moments on the pitch but I thought Abdoullah [Ba] had had a good week in training and deserved to play, and he was influential in the first goal. It's a situation where I share some of the frustration of the fans, for sure, and the team does as well because we are looking for something up front that would help us."

Michael Beale's blueprint for on the road

We Are Sunderland: Sunderland's early set-up at Portman RoadSunderland's early set-up at Portman Road (Image: Wyscout)Sunderland had a good foothold in the game in the first-half with a flat four cutting out any passing lanes in between Ipswich Town's midfield anchors. It was something that the hosts struggled with in the opening stages of the game, with Kieran McKenna's side unable to find Jack Taylor and Lewis Travis in central areas of the pitch.

The Wearsiders forced Ipswich to play back to their own goalkeeper on a number of occasions and outnumbered Town's midfield with a box of four players.

We Are Sunderland: Sunderland's midfield box against Ipswich TownSunderland's midfield box against Ipswich Town (Image: Wyscout)The width of Abdoullah Ba and Jack Clarke helped limit the Tractorboys' ability to get the ball into wide areas of the pitch, with Nathan Broadhead almost anonymous in the first-half, Leif Davis unable to maraud down the left.

On this occasion, Ipswich were rushed into playing a first time pass to escape the midfield press, the ball going out of play and possession turning over.

It's been a theme of Sunderland's early away set-ups and it worked well particularly in the first-half at Portman Road.

We Are Sunderland: Sunderland's front four set-up away at Hull CitySunderland's front four set-up away at Hull City (Image: Wyscout)If we look back at the game at Hull City, we see Sunderland set-up in the exact same way. It was another game where Beale made the decision to operate without a striker, Jobe and Bradley Dack operating as a front two, but also tasked with breaking passing lanes into central areas.

We Are Sunderland: Sunderland's central box at Hull CitySunderland's central box at Hull City (Image: Wyscout)Sunderland won the ball back in central areas of the pitch against Hull, just as they did at Ipswich but came away with three points, an almost perfect display, albeit the tactical set-up can have it's limitations in creating chances in the final third.

It's an area Beale will look to address having had an xG of just 0.73 at Portman Road, compared to the hosts' xG of 2.31. At Hull City on Boxing Day, the Black Cats had a superior xG of 1.03, compared to the Tigers' xG of 0.81.

The draw at Rotherham United is somewhat of an anomaly in terms of how the Wearsiders set-up, moving away from the 4-2-4 out of possession and into a 4-3-3. Leam Richardson's side were the better of the two inside the opening 45 minutes with the Black Cats struggling to get a foothold in the game.

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A moment of magic from Jack Clarke got them out of jail that evening, just as it did at Hull City. The Sunderland winger has been their main source of goals, but they need more in the final third of the pitch.

Stats can be interpreted to fit a rhetoric, but there can be no arguing they need more in that area of the pitch. Their xG at the New York Stadium was 0.3 - the lowest of any side to visit the Millers so far this season.

Beale needs to get Sunderland going in the final third again and the arrival of an experienced striker in the January transfer window would certainly help that cause.