Phil Parkinson has said that he understands the feeling of supporters as his role as Sunderland manager comes under scrutiny.

The Black Cats have endured a difficult start to the new season after winning just six of their 12 fixtures so far.

As a result the Wearsiders find themselves sitting in eighth position in League One - a long way off the automatic promotion spots that they so crave.

After missing out on promotion in the last two season the pressure is really on among supporters for the club to finally return to the Championship, with much of that heat falling on the manager.

With another crucial match against Joey Barton's Fleetwood Town coming up on Friday evening, Parkinson has addressed the pressure that he's under and says that he knows what is expected of him.

As quoted by Chronicle Live, Parkinson said: "I have to stick to what myself and the staff believe we should do on a week-to-week basis.

"I block everything else out, as a lot of other experienced managers do, and that's not to say that we disrespect supporters' views - we know how passionately they care about their club - but in the cold light of day we have to look at each game and see where we need to improve.

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"After the Ipswich game we were flying high, we've had a bit of a dip since then, but I felt that the performance level at Doncaster was good and I could see us getting back to how we can play, which is positive.

"But when you have a period where it seems things are going against you, you concede that last-minute goal when two weeks ago it might not have gone in the back of the net.

"Other teams will go through similar periods over the course of the season, so we just have to be strong, and concentrate on what we have got to do."

He added: "We're not trying to hide from it and pretend that we're delighted with everything and everything is fantastic.

"We came in on Monday after the Doncaster game and myself and Steve [Parkin, assistant manager] sat down and looked how we could change things and make the system we played more effective because at times we were excellent and we should have been out of sight.

"I understand the way the fans feel, and their desperation to get out of League One.

 

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"It's the same at other clubs I have been at, but obviously it is magnified here by the volume of the support.

"I know what I have to do in terms of being at the top end of this table because I have worked there for a long time, promotions, play-offs, and in and around it.

"We have to be more threatening and effective in elements of our play, we know that."

The Verdict

The pressure is really starting to build on Phil Parkinson.

Results simply haven't been good enough for Sunderland and with the growing economic uncertainty there's a real need to pick up results this season.

If things don't improve soon it's inevitable that a change will be made, as quite simply, the Black Cats need to go up this term and time is running out.