The international break is extremely welcome at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland losing their last three matches in League One.

A loss to Mansfield in the FA Cup and defeat on penalties in the Football League Trophy against Bradford City has made it five in a row in all competitions, with such an expectant home faithful it is tricky for players not to let the supporters' frustrations get to them.

Alex Pritchard attempted to explain the team's poor run when he spoke to ChronicleLive.

He said: "I'm not too sure, I can't put my finger on it but it's stuff like this - you have dips in the league and we are having that at the moment and need to turn it around very quickly.

"We are going to have moments in the league throughout the season where we are going to have a bad performance or a defeat.

"Hopefully it doesn't happen but inevitably it will, and we just need to stay positive, stay together and we need to speak honestly and openly about it."

The honesty from Pritchard is refreshing and it is clear to see that the players are all hurt by the recent results. It is Lee Johnson's job to pick their confidence back up off of the floor and get them believing in themselves again.

The Verdict

Every team goes on a bad run at one point in the season. The key is to ensure that spell is as brief as you can possibly make it, with Lee Johnson's reputation of going on positive and negative streaks he needs to arrest the slide soon.

If the Black Cats slip out of the play-off places, which could happen if they lose to Ipswich Town in their next league outing, then the pressure from above will be weighing heavy on Johnson.

There have been so many positives since he joined the club last season but a bad run at the wrong time saw them fall away from automatic promotion contention and crash out of the play-offs to Lincoln City. The Black Cats desperately need to win promotion this term.