Phil Parkinson verdict on 1-0 win over Southend, clean sheet and key Sunderland partnerships

Luke O’Nien scored a brilliant diving header to seal the victory, turning home Denver Hume’s pinpoint cross from the left wing.

Sunderland were not at their best but dominated the game and possession and were more than worthy of the three points against Sol Campbell’s Southend struggling side.

Reflecting on the victory, Parkinson said: “Very pleased, we have had two long trips on the road this week.

“Maybe we weren’t at our sharpest for the whole game. In patches we were good

“It is important when you are not quite at your best you get the result.

“We showed good resilience, we should have scored more, some of our crossing was not as good as we like. It is an important win for us, with the possibility of not having a league game for a while

“Everybody knew it was important to get the result.”

Sunderland now have a break from league action, with three cup games coming starting with the EFL Trophy clash at home to Leicester City on Tuesday and then Gillingham at home in the FA Cup next Saturday.

Sunderland secured only their second league clean sheet of the season against Southend, Parkinson pleased to secure back to back shut outs at home.

Parkinson added: “You can feel in the group how important that is, everybody knows the importance of winning a game when not at your best.

“To do that you need the clean sheet mentality from the whole team, everybody did the job, Grant when he came on, he was only on for five or six minutes but showed great nous in the centre of the pitch.

“Everybody contributed. We can have a good rest and look forward to Tuesday’s game.”

Jordan Willis and Joel Lynch struck up an improving partnership in central defence, with Max Power and George Dobson combining well in the middle.

Parkinson added: “I thought the two midfield players were solid and growing as a partnership, in terms of the discipline of the team and the football they played.”