Winger insists there are no problems in the Sunderland dressing room

The Black Cats are third bottom in the Championship after 10 games, the 5-2 thrashing to Ipswich Town at Portman Road the latest demoralising defeat.

The defeat and manner of the performance has heightened fears that the Black Cats could become embroiled in a second successive relegation battle.

McManaman, who started the game after recovering from a groin concern, insists this current crop of players can turn the season around.

The 26-year-old winger says the Black Cats must stop conceding goals to give themselves a chance in games, having already shipped 19 goals - the joint second-worst record in the league.

And he insists there are no issues in the Sunderland dressing room.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's crunch game against Simon Grayson's former side Preston North End, McManaman said: "We need to do everything we can to get it right because at the moment it’s really disappointing.

"There’s no lack of effort and everyone’s giving their all, but something’s not working and we need to work hard to get it right.

"We need to stop conceding goals because that’s the main problem at the moment.

"It’ll definitely come with the group of lads we’ve got and there’s no problems in the camp, so we need to get out of this together.

"The lads are gutted but we have to crack on because the game on Saturday is massive and we need to get a positive result."