Sunderland midfielder Alex Pritchard has admitted that the club desperately need to secure a victory in League One in order to get back on track following their recent slump in form.

After initially making a promising start to the 2021/22 campaign in the third-tier, the Black Cats have been incredibly underwhelming in their recent fixtures.

A 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic last month was followed up by a 5-1 defeat to Rotherham United.

Unable to deliver a response to these results in their clash with Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland suffered another setback as Darren Moore's side secured a 3-0 victory at Hillsborough.

Having been eliminated from the FA Cup by League Two side Mansfield Town earlier this month, the Black Cats will be desperate to provide their supporters with something to shout about when they host Ipswich Town at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Sunderland could move to within three points of the automatic promotion places if they beat the Tractor Boys.

Pritchard may be in line to feature for his side in this particular fixture as he has started in three of the club's last four league games.

Making reference to this weekend's game, the attacking midfielder has admitted that Sunderland need to step up to the mark and deliver a performance that their fans will be proud of.

Speaking to the Northern Echo, Pritchard said: "Look, we need to get a win, we need to get a win from somewhere and hopefully it's against Ipswich in the league.

"We need to get back to winning ways and give something for the fans to cheer about and get us back in a good environment again.

"Obviously it's a difficult moment and we all know it but you can't just be negative and need to be positive.

"We are a good team and have some fantastic players in that dressing room, we know that but we need to show it.

 

 

"Ipswich at home is massive for us.

"We just have to stand up and be counted really to a man.

"For them to come here we have to make this a fortress again, it's as simple as that and with the crowd behind us we can."

The Verdict

Having been extremely poor in recent weeks, it will be fascinating to see whether Sunderland are able to get back on track by producing a positive performance against Ipswich.

Pritchard will be determined to become a mainstay in the club's starting eleven by producing a host of eye-catching displays over the course of the Christmas period.

Whilst the midfielder's struggles with consistency this season has resulted in him averaging a relatively underwhelming WhoScored match rating of 6.38 in the third-tier, there is no reason why he cannot go on to excel at this level.

By adding to the five assists that he has provided for his team-mates this season in Saturday's showdown with Ipswich, Pritchard could help his side secure all three points in-front of their supporters.