Phil Parkinson outlines what he wants to see from his Sunderland players against Shrewsbury Town

Rampant Sunderland thrashed Tranmere 5-0 at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday, Duncan Watmore, Chris Maguire, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg and Luke O’Nien the scorers.

The bar has certainly been set in terms of performance and repeating it on a consistent basis is the challenge facing the Sunderland squad now as they look to string together wins and kick-start their promotion push.

Parkinson, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Shrewsbury Town, said: “It was a terrific win for us, very quickly in football your mind turns to the next game and it is about reproducing that performance level.

“Make sure the lads have the energy in their legs to do it, that we get the team selection right and then can we produce the same performance and standard of play and if we do then we have a good chance of winning the game.”

Parkinson has only been in charge a week following the decision to sack Jack Ross and he has already overseen two games, the defeat at Wycombe Wanderers and the thumping win over Tranmere.

Reflecting on his first home game at the Stadium of Light, Parkinson said: “I loved it.

“Under the lights, it was a terrific experience and I took it all in from the moment I entered the stadium to the moment I left.

“It was an excellent evening for us.

“It just shows when the crowd sees a performance like that how they will respond and get behind the team, it makes it such a great place for our players to play.”

Lynden Gooch is ruled out through injury, the winger twisted his ankle in the 5-0 win on Tuesday night and will miss out.

Victory over Tranmere moved Sunderland up to eighth and the Black Cats will be targeting a move back into the play-off positions and closer to the top two with a win on Saturday.

Peterborough United lead the League One table with 27 points from 14 games, Posh having played one game more than Sunderland.