Sunderland beat Blackburn despite turning in their worst 45 minutes of the season, says Dan Neil

Sunderland were not at their best in the first half against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, but still led at half-time and went on to win

Sunderland's first half performance at Blackburn Rovers was their worst of the season - but the fact they still led at the break was hallmark of a good team, according to Dan Neil. The Black Cats afforded Rovers a series of chances in the first period at Ewood Park, but a couple of good saves from Anthony Patterson and some brilliant blocks from Dan Ballard minimised the damage.

And with Neil scoring in first-half injury time, after Jack Clarke's penalty had been cancelled out by Harry Leonard, it meant Tony Mowbray was able to make adjustments at the interval from a position of strength. Sunderland improved in the second half and went on to add a third goal through Clarke, as they clocked up a third successive win which saw them climb to fourth in the table.

Neil said of his goal: "Yeah it's the perfect time to score straight after they've scored and right before half-time. They were probably getting the better of us in the first half, and that [scoring even when second best] is what good teams do.

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"The first half was probably the worst half we've had but we still came in 2-1 up and had time to reflect on the first half. I think it's the sign of a good team and a team that's growing from last year."

Sunderland tend to dominate possession in games, but that was not the case against Blackburn and they had to play on the counter-attack. "It was a tough game and you've probably seen a different Sunderland side to what you have from the start of the season in terms of the possession that we normally keep in all the games," said Neil.

"This was probably a different side to us with the counter attacking ability."

Ballard made a couple of crucial blocks in the first half to keep the game goalless at a stage when Blackburn threatened to run away with it. Neil said: "Dan Ballard was absolutely excellent.

"Blackburn are a really good team and we knew that, their rotations were brilliant and we kind of had a plan going into the game but we didn't quite execute it. We always want to be on the front foot and press, win the ball back high and retain the ball, but sometimes when you come to these type of places and they are at home and keeping the ball you just have to concede possession a little bit.

"I think that's the beauty of this team. I think we can dominate the ball and press high and win it back, but also just sit in and hit them on the counter attack with the pase of Abdoullah [Ba], [Jack] Clarke, and Mason [Burstow] and we did that."

After Clarke's opener from the penalty he earned and converted, Leonard put Blackburn briefly back on terms with a header which Sunderland felt at the time was offside. Neil said: "To be honest I didn't really see too much of it.

"I think I'd cleared the ball and it’s dropped to them. He looks like he's offside, whether he is or not I haven't seen it back.

"At the end of the day they probably deserved one because they'd made a good few chances and we maybe got away with a few. Then we reacted really well, scored, went in at half-time and fixed a few things and came out in the second half a lot better."

Neil's goal - his second of the season - came when an Alex Pritchard was only half-cleared and it fell to the midfielder just outside the box, he took a touch and beat Rovers keeper Aynsley Pears with a low shot. And with attacking talents such as Clarke, Patrick Roberts, and Ba, along with players such as Neil also contributing, Neil says there are no doubts about the goalscoring ability within the side.

He said: "The gaffer says all the time if our most talented players at the top end of the pitch work their hardest we'll have no problems because we are always good for a goal. We need to have that solid base at the back to allow our attacking players to go and win the game for us and we've done that this season."

Sunderland's season continues on Sunday when Cardiff City visit the Stadium of Light.