The Lads slipped to a 0-1 home defeat in their final league game of the season.

What did our writers make of it?ByMay 4, 2025, 6:00am BSTPhoto by Michael Driver | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJohn Wilson says…A clean bill of healthNo new injuries, minutes for everyone, and Romaine Mundle has more recovery time.A decent defensive displayWhatever happened elsewhere on the pitch, Anthony Patterson had nothing to do apart from picking the ball out of his net after five minutes, so the defence is marshalling opponents well enough.Another blank in front of goalI’m totally behind the tactics we’ve followed recently.It must be very difficult for the players to find that extra percentage in a meaningless game, but our lack of cutting edge and ideas about unlocking a defence is worrying.

One can only hope that when everything is on the line, it can be different.

Is confidence as strong as it could be?The other part of resting players mentally and physically is that we don’t lose any confidence in the build up, but some of the fans have! I’ll be astounded and hugely disappointed if we don’t show up for the semi-finals but this performance can’t have helped the team.

They need to have big belief in themselves, but Chris Rigg in particular seems to have become deflated.I for one can’t wait for the playoffs to begin and to see the energetic Sunderland back.Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty ImagesLars Knutsen says…Intensity improvedThere was a little more intensity to our play on another eventually frustrating afternoon.

We had more attempts on goal in the second half but QPR showed us early on how incisive wing play and a well-placed cross could provide a critical goal chance, which Nicolas Madsen took very well.

There’s desire in our team but we’re still lacking the smooth attacking football which flowed so well in the first half of the season.

It’s as if the players are having to think too much, whereas earlier in the season goals just emerged naturally from flowing football.Let’s hope the Lads can turn on the required intensity in the coming games, as this is a real test for Régis Le Bris and his coaching staff.Mission: playoff success If anyone had said at the start of the season that we would be nailed on for the playoffs with five games to go, any fan would’ve been happy.

It’s been a satisfactory season in many ways and I would’ve said ‘excellent’, but four defeats in a row at the end of the campaign have taken the gloss off it and we now know that we have to beat Coventry over two legs, starting at the CBS Arena on Friday.

The Sky Blues have been difficult opponents for us in recent years but this fixture is what it is and we have to dig deep to get to the final at Wembley.

An ongoing lack of goalsWe’re just not scoring enough goals, which is a worry.

Four in ten games and one in the last six is just not good enough at any level.

I know recent games have been unusual and the players have been trying to avoid injury, but Eliezer Mayenda was strangely quiet when we needed him to show some of the fire that usually characterises his play.

QPR defended well but also neutralised Wilson Isidor when he came on.

As Peter Reid said regularly, ‘Goals change games’ and we urgently need to discover our scoring touch — not just from our forwards.‘Fortress’ Stadium of Light no moreWe’ve had remarkable attendances at the Stadium of Light this season, which since the winter has had the contrary effect of lifting visiting teams.

Since mid-February, we’ve played seven home games and won just two, with four defeats.

Before we experienced defeat to Hull, we had a real resilience at home and the Stadium of Light felt like a fortress.

The final playoff game versus Coventry will be a sell out, but home fans will need to provide a real lift for our team.

It’s a tense time with a lot at stake, but that’s what football at the top level is about and with the club’s Premier League ambitions, we need to get used to that.

Players who can cope with the pressure will emerge but there are leaders out there who’ll have to stand up and be counted if we’re to succeed.Malc Dugdale says…It really didn’t matter…thank God!We played poorly yet again but as has been mentioned by plenty a happy clapper fan across the last clutch of games, these results mean nothing.

It’s a good job as if we had been fighting for the top two or for sixth, as many clubs have been, we would’ve failed dismally.

Minutes for returneesDennis Cirkin got a start and although he was partly culpable for their goal in missing the overlapping run on his side, it was good to give him a good run out with no concerns, and Dan Ballard had some pitch time too.

We let another goal in with no return, so maybe the defence for the semi-finals needs adjustment but we took no injuries including the returned players, which has to be an upside.

Flat and fruitlessWhilst we had a go at getting back in the game at times, we didn’t really create enough clear chances for me, and those we did knock together were well blocked and disrupted by a team who had nothing to play for, and no manager.

Coventry City and the finalists at Wembley will be a huge challenge if we continue with this lack of cutting edge.

Do we still have it? Only time will tell.

Five in a row in the wrong wayWe couldn’t have done any worse with our build up for the playoffs in terms of results, momentum and confidence.

Coventry will be rubbing their hands and will be right up for it, but the only way is up from here, so let’s draw a line here and give it 110% come the trip back to the CBS Arena — which still makes me fed up after going there a few weeks ago and watching us be bloody awful again!Photo by Michael Driver | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images