Steve Parkin has revealed that Declan John must be patient as he waits for his Sunderland debut. The 24-year-old moved to the Stadium Of Light on a loan deal to the end of the season after falling out of favour with Championship side Swansea City. However since making the move John is yet to be involved in a matchday squad leading to questions about his lack of gametime. But speaking after the 3-0 victory over Rochdale, Phil Parkinson's number two said that the defender doesn't fit into their matchday plans at present.
Speaking after the game, Parkin said: “He's been great, he's trained fine.
“It's just the way it is at the moment, he's got to be patient.
“He's a good player and he's already shown us that in training.
“It's just about the balance of the substitutes really and it's been difficult for us to get him on there, but I'm sure that will change over the next few weeks.” [freshpress-poll ]   Sunderland named an unchanged starting XI for the clash with Rochdale - a decision which prompted plenty of questions from supporters. The likes of Josh Scowen, Kyle Lafferty and Antoine Semenyo have all been waiting patiently for an opportunity to start for the Black Cats but according to Parkin, it's difficult to break up a winning formula. Speaking of his team selection, he said: "We had long discussions on Monday about it.
“We decided we would sleep on it and we had a couple of chats about it when we came in.
“We were in early and just decided that we were in such a good place and had such good energy around the place on Monday that we'd stick with the same group.” Can you name these ex-Sunderland players? Let's find out!  
The verdict It's hard to argue with Phil Parkinson's decision to stick with a consistent starting XI. Sunderland have been in excellent form in recent weeks and that has undoubtedly been down to the cohesion formed within the current starting XI. Of course one man who is missing out is Declan John. The 24-year-old is bound to be frustrated but given the form of Denver Hume it would be unfair to change things unnecessarily.