Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs has addressed growing supporter concerns over the Black Cats' form and delivered a clear message about the squad's faith in head coach Régis Le Bris

Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs has urged supporters to keep faith in the team amid a difficult start to the Premier League season, while insisting the players remain firmly behind head coach Régis Le Bris.

The Dutchman was one of Sunderland's better performers during another disappointing afternoon but refused to take any individual credit, stressing that the entire squad needed to take responsibility for improving results.

Roefs acknowledged that supporters were understandably concerned after Sunderland's struggles in the opening weeks of the campaign but promised the players would do everything possible to turn their fortunes around.

"I know it's hard for the fans to keep being positive but we will make sure the next game we give it our very best again," Roefs said. "We need the fans in that as well. Obviously we all need to keep having 100% faith that this is going to turn around."

Sunderland enjoyed a remarkable campaign last season, finishing seventh in the Premier League and securing European qualification, but have struggled to replicate those performances during the early stages of the new campaign.

Roefs admitted that the team had fallen short of expectations but insisted he was not concerned about the quality within the squad.

"I'm not concerned because I think we have great players and we have a great team but it's not all about having great players and great talents.

"It's about showing up every day and making sure we turn this around as a team. I think the whole team has 100% trust in each other and faith that it's going to turn around but we need to change."

The goalkeeper also addressed Sunderland's recurring problems at the beginning of matches, admitting the team had struggled to start both halves with sufficient intensity.

"I think it's a problem we have had a few times this season," he explained. “Whether it's the first half we started not great or the second half and today we don't start good both halves. This can happen on this level because you see how relentless it is. It's one mistake and they punish us and then it's hard to recover from that in this league."

Despite the difficult start, Roefs also offered an unequivocal endorsement of Le Bris when asked whether the dressing room retained complete confidence in the Frenchman.

"Obviously he's shown for years at Sunderland what he's capable of and what he can make the team do and last season he's shown this as well. He's fully behind us, we're behind him and it's up to us."

Roefs also dismissed Sunderland's increased European workload as an excuse for their performances, insisting that the players knew the demands of the campaign would be greater.

"We knew this season was going to be hard because of Europe and the amount of games we played. But this can never be an excuse of playing like this today. They also play in Europe so it's quite the same. We need to turn it around."