Steve Parkin's Sunderland squad admission as January preparations step up

A run of cup games have given Parkin and manager Phil Parkinson the chance to assess the squad as a whole, and the Black Cats assistant manager believes some recent injuries and suspensions have underlined the need for reinforcements.

“We’ve been able to look at what we’ve got,” Parkin said.

“I think a few things have hit home to us. We lost Charlie [Wyke] as soon as we came in, and then [Lynden] Gooch too, and we were already without [Alim] Ozturk and [Laurens] de Bock, and I think that showed that the squad is a bit light on the ground. That’s our feeling.

“To sustain a challenge to get promoted, you’ve either got to be very fortunate to keep everybody fit or you have to have a really strong squad. I think we could maybe do with strengthening a little bit, just to make sure that if we do pick up these injuries or suspensions, we’re strong enough to deal with it.”

Sunderland’s new management team were left frustrated by a poor second-half display against Gillingham on Saturday.

Parkin believes there have been positive signs but says the players must show a ruthless streak, with good displays against the likes of Oxford and Shrewsbury not rewarded with wins.

“If you take the games on merit, each individual game, then the one thing we’ve not been is clinical enough in front of goal, and maybe as resolute as we would like to be at the other end of the pitch,” he said.

“We’re not a million miles away, and I think the players are trying their best. We just need to be a little bit more ruthless all over the pitch, that’s not just in front of goal, that’s everywhere. Whether they can produce that ruthlessness remains to be seen.

“We can only set them up and do what we can to tell them about the division because we know it. It is an unforgiving division, and the longer it goes on and the more serious it gets, you will get the physicality, and we have to make sure we can cope with that.”