Phil Parkinson has this key message for Sunderland as they bid to reignite automatic promotion ambitions

The Black Cats spurned a major opportunity to close the gap to automatic promotion spots against Gillingham on Saturday, with Parkinson heavily critical of his team’s defending in the closing stages.

Rotherham United’s defeat to Rochdale means that Sunderland eventually gained a point on the top two, and Parkinson is wary of his side suffering a similar fate to the Millers.

While acknowledging that the stakes are high for side this week, he would not put any extra pressure on his players to win against a Bristol Rovers side in dire form.

“The only pressure I ever put on myself and the team is to play well,” he said.

“I think if you go in desperation that you've got to get a result, then it creates a tension [in your play].

“We've got to assess how Bristol Rovers play, like we did with Gillingham, what we've got to do against them and what we've got to deal with.

“We did half of it against Gillingham, but not in terms of the physicality when the ball came into the box.

“We'll dust ourselves down and go again.

“It's good to have another game quickly.

“We know that it's an important week because after Blackpool we have that break.

“We know what we've got to do on our travels and I'm confident we can come out of it in good fashion.

“Rotherham conceded last week at home to MK Dons and drew,” he added.

“We've done that on Saturday.

“Rotherham were then probably knocked by that and have beaten at Rochdale.

“We've got to make sure that we don't let what happened on Saturday knock us.

“We've got to iron out the things we weren't happy with but also take the good elements of our play into Tuesday.”

Sunderland’s trip to the Memorial Stadium is one of four League One fixtures on Tuesday night.

In a crucial game, Portsmouth and Fleetwood, two of the four sides locked on 59 points alongside Sunderland, clash at Fratton Park.