It's been a rocky start to life at the Stadium of Light for Phil Parkinson.

The international break provided little respite for the English coach as his Sunderland side slumped to two defeats disappointing defeats inside a week.

The first saw them suffer an embarrassing 3-0 loss to League Two strugglers Scunthorpe and fail to qualify for a place in the EFL Trophy knock-out stages, while the second, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Gillingham, meant they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the First Round.

The Black Cats have now lost five of their first nine games under Parkinson, winning just twice and being knocked out of three competitions in that period.

Understandably, fans of the North East are frustrated and there have been some calls for the 51-year-old coach to go–little more than a month after he took the job.

But it is not all doom and gloom for the League One side and with that in mind, here are three positives for fans to consider...

They're still within touching distance of the play-off places.

Parkinson's record so far has been awful, there is no denying that, but when you take into account that three of his losses have come in cup competitions it looks significantly better.

The Sunderland boss has taken six points from a possible 12 in League One and his side are ninth–two points away from the play-off places with two games in hand over the majority of the top six.

The Black Cats' future still remains in their hands and if they can string together a run of strong performances in the league they should be battling at the top of the table again in no time.

There are no more distractions.

Getting knocked out of three competitions in just over a month is not the way the 51-year-old will have wanted to start his Sunderland tenure, however, it could be bittersweet.

The only competition the Black Cats are now competing in is League One, allowing them to put their full concentration and resources into their promotion push.

Sunderland already have two games in hand over the majority of the top six and with a congested festive period on the way, only having to compete on one front could be a huge boost for them.

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January is just around the corner. 

They say you shouldn't judge a manager until at least one transfer window and with January around six weeks away Parkinson will no doubt be looking to make some improvements to his squad.

Highest priority has to be adding more firepower upfront–as strikers Charlie Wyke, Marc McNulty, and Will Grigg have scored just four goals between them in the league.

If the Black Cats can be shrewd and add some quality to their side, they could be well set for a late-season push.