Pressure on Phil Parkinson as Sunderland head to Doncaster

Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson will need a win on Saturday against Doncaster Rovers if he is to convince fans on Wearside that he deserves more time in the job.

The Black Cats currently sit seventh in the league, four points off top but with a game in hand, but for many Mackems that is not good enough and after three consecutive defeats in all competitions Parkinson needs to turn things around soon.

The former Bolton and Bradford boss has now been at the helm for 13 months and has never really had the fans on side. His appointment last season was met with derision and fans questioning the ambition, despite Parkinson having a history of getting sides promoted.

One thing that has always worked against Parkinson, however, is that his sides do not tend to play attractive football, instead being solid at the back and taking chances when they come. Dull football is often excused if backed up with results, but when those results dry up it is hard to back a manager offering little reason for fans to part with their money to watch the games.

Sunderland started this season having more possession than their opponents and starving the opposition of chances, while taking many themselves, albeit without scoring many goals. But since facing, and losing to, Portsmouth at the end of October sides have started creating more chances against Sunderland.

Last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to MK Dons however was another where Sunderland had more possession and more chances, but the difference was that Sunderland were wasteful and Milton Keynes more clinical.

In Will Grigg, Charlie Wyke, Danny Graham and Aiden O’Brien Sunderland are blessed with strikers with a history of scoring goals at this level, but you could be forgiven for thinking it was more of a curse than a blessing, with not one of these strikers finding form in a Sunderland shirt so far.

There is enormous pressure on Sunderland to succeed. This is only the fourth season the club has spent in League One in their history, and they will want it to be the final season. Especially now that a salary cap has been implemented to level the playing field in future seasons.

The club appears to be close to a takeover, and many supporters are hoping the new owner will want to bring in a new manager, with Parkinson having not convinced supporters he can take them to the Championship.

Supporters have not been entertained this season, even when the club was winning, but now after three defeats in a row many feel it is the right time for a change.

In Parkinson’s defence, the club has only lost two league games so far this season and are very much involved at the right end of the table, but for Sunderland fans it is not enough to just be involved in the promotion picture, they should be leading it.

A win against Doncaster could propel Sunderland to second place, although that is unlikely given the number of teams above them who would have to drop points.

The lowest Sunderland could drop is to eighth, with both Fleetwood Town and Plymouth Argyle potentially overtaking Sunderland should either of them win. (Fleetwood and Plymouth are facing each other). Doncaster meanwhile could move up to eighth, one point behind Sunderland, should they win but only if Argyle and Fleetwood draw.

Donny should be boosted by a return of Darren Moore in the dugout having finished a period of self-isolation. Madger Gomes could also return from a spell out injured.

Jon Taylor could also return after a spell on the sidelines, but Tyreece John-Jules and Rayhaan Tulloch remain out.

Sunderland are boosted by the return of defenders Conor McLaughlin and Tom Flanagan who are back from international duty, although it is not yet clear if they will come straight back into the side.

Rovers have not played for 11 days with last weekend’s game against Oxford United postponed after international call ups for Danny Amos, Josef Bursik and Matt Smith.

Their last match ended in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves U21s in the Papa John’s Trophy but with John Ruddy, Marcal and Fabio Silva having featured for Wolves, the latter two having both come off the bench for the club’s defeat at Leicester in the Premier League just days before, it was always going to be a tough challenge, Rovers were also without Bursik and Smith and had their manager in self-isolation.

Moore’s side were dealt a blow on Thursday evening with Bursik recalled by Stoke City leaving Doncaster in need of a new goalkeeper. The club is now expected to bring in a Championship goalkeeper on an emergency loan before Saturday’s game.

Doncaster have lost just one home game in the league so far this season, 2-1 against Crewe Alexandra at the end of October. Of their other four, they have won three and drawn one.

While Rovers’ home form is impressive, Sunderland’s away form is better. Parkinson’s side have won three and drawn two of their five away matches this season, and have kept clean sheets in four of them.