Tony Mowbray: Sunderland's defeat by Rotherham is 'a learning curve' for players

Joe Gelhardt's goal was a positive for Sunderland, after he was signed to cover Ross Stewart's injury

Sunderland will have learned a lesson about matching other teams' intensity from Tuesday's Championship away defeat by Rotherham, says boss Tony Mowbray.

The Wearsiders were beaten on the road for the first time since October's loss at Mowbray's old club Blackburn.

Ollie Rathbone and Shane Ferguson goals left the Black Cats 2-0 down, before striker Joe Gelhardt pulled one back.

"It was a big learning curve for us tonight," Teessider Mowbray, 59, told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"It took us until we were 2-0 down before we really looked like the team that we are.

"For this team to function and win football matches in this league, we need everybody to be at maximum really.

"Particularly (in the) first half we fell well short of that, even through we tried to get them ready for what was going to be a super-intense game."

Mowbray credited Rotherham for stopping his side from playing with their usual fluidity, citing the recent draw at Millwall as a similar example of being stifled by an opposition's game-plan.

The loss, their 10th of the season overall, leaves Sunderland in eighth place, yet the congested nature of the table means that between Norwich, a place below, and Blackburn in fourth, there is a gap of just three points.

"It's the first one [defeat] on the road since October, so we shouldn't be too disappointed with it, but obviously we are disappointed because we've lost a game," Mowbray added.

"It's been a pretty good record away from home and we have to get back to winning ways as quickly as we can."