A new year, but the same old story for Sunderland. Roy Keane’s team dropped into the Barclays Premier League relegation zone last night thanks to a combination of Wigan Athletic’s draw away to Liverpool and their inability to perform away from Wearside. A seventh successive defeat on the road means that Sunderland have taken only two away points all season and have yet to keep a clean sheet on their travels.

“It’s not nice, but I’ve said that the priority for us is not to be there come May,” Keane said. “We had a chance to get further away from it tonight, and these opportunities keep slipping us by. Our home form is keeping us in touch.”

They could count themselves unlucky at Ewood Park, although a less charitable view would be that they shot themselves in the foot — twice. After dominating the first half, they squandered an excellent chance to take the lead they deserved when Dean Whitehead’s poor penalty kick was easily saved by Brad Friedel. Then, after Blackburn had rubbed it in by scoring from the penalty spot, Dwight Yorke effectively ended any chance they had of turning the game around by getting himself sent off for a second bookable offence.

“The penny has to drop,” Keane said. “You can’t keep having the same conversations after games and at half-time — ‘There’s something there for us, we’ve got to take it.’ Tonight was a perfect opportunity that we didn’t take. We had a penalty and missed it, they had a penalty and scored. That sums up the game.”

Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, was happy, or at least relieved, that his team ended a run of three successive home defeats and kept a clean sheet for only the second time in 16 league matches, but their display was unconvincing. “It was a difficult game for everybody,” he said. “Conditions didn’t lend themselves to football being played, but Sunderland stopped us playing our passing game and will feel quite aggrieved that they didn’t get anything out of the game.”

The bitterly cold and windy conditions, however, did not seem to affect Sunderland, who knocked the ball about confidently, although they tested Friedel only once in the first half, through Daryl Murphy’s well-struck shot. Blackburn were barely able to get out of their half and were restricted to David Bentley’s free kick from 32 yards, so when both teams were forced to replace their top goalscorers after the interval, Roque Santa Cruz departing with a groin problem and Kenwyne Jones succumbing to a knee injury, the chances of goals seemed to recede completely.

Instead, two excellent goalscoring chances came along almost immediately. Seven minutes into the second half, Christopher Samba barged into the back of Murphy, and Rob Styles, the referee, awarded his seventh penalty of the season — more than any other Premier League referee. Friedel, though, anticipated Whitehead’s poorly struck effort to perfection, diving to his left to clutch the ball to his chest — the second successive match in which he had saved a penalty. “Brad is having key moments for us,” Hughes said.

Five minutes later, it was Blackburn’s turn, and Samba was involved again. The defender’s shot on the turn hit the raised arm of Danny Higginbotham and Styles awarded penalty No 8. After Benni McCarthy had converted with conviction, Rovers celebrated with Samba — who was back in the line-up after the birth of his son — by cradling imaginary infants.

To make matters worse for Sunderland, Yorke was dismissed for two virtually identical offences. Having brought down Matt Derbyshire, the Blackburn substitute, from behind after 66 minutes, he committed a similar foul on David Dunn, the substitute for the substitute, five minutes later, and cannot have been surprised to see a red card. “Yorkie gave him an opportunity to send him off,” Keane said.

Yorke was jeered as he departed, but nothing on the scale of a previous return to Ewood Park with Birmingham City, when he ended up drawing the police’s attention to racist chanting at the home end.

Keane expects to make at least one signing “within 24 hours”. He has been linked with a move for Robbie Savage and Blackburn last night confirmed that Sunderland had made an inquiry about the midfield player. Keane refused to shed light on the matter. “I’m interested in lots of players,” he said. “The game tonight confirms what we need.”

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): B Friedel – B Emerton, C Samba, R Nelsen, S Warnock – D Bentley, A Mokoena, Tugay Kerimoglu, M G Pedersen – R Santa Cruz (sub: M Derbyshire, 46min; sub: D Dunn, 69), B McCarthy. Substitutes not used: J Brown, Z Khizanishvili, K Treacy. Booked: Tugay, Emerton, Samba.

Sunderland (4-1-4-1): C Gordon – D Whitehead, P McShane, D Higginbotham, D Collins – D Yorke – R Wallace (sub: A Cole, 82), L Miller, K Richardson (sub: M Waghorn, 82), D Murphy – K Jones (sub: G Leadbitter, 46). Substitutes not used: D Ward, G Kavanagh. Booked: Higginbotham, Wallace, Yorke, Collins. Sent off: Yorke.

Referee: R Styles.