Parkinson: Cats must be composed in possession but not too cautious

Phil Parkinson has urged his Sunderland players to show more composure in possession to avoid conceding the early goals that have affected their progress in the last two games.

Goals inside the first ten minutes for Fleetwood Town and Coventry City proved costly for the Black Cats, with their opponents able to sit in and absorb pressure thereafter.

Parkinson has had time this week to reflect on the errors made and believes the fault has primarily been poor decision-making in possession, as other sides look to come flying out of the blocks.

“What I've said to the lads this week is that we're disappointed with the early goals, I don't want us to be too frantic about it,” he said. “But, let's look at it. “We know that teams are going to come quickly at us.

“We're Sunderland and it's a big game for the opposition.

“We've got to be prepared for that, be up for that, but also cool enough to make the right decisions on the ball.

“That's what we probably haven't quite got right in the first ten to fifteen minutes of some games.

“After that, we've gone on to have good control of the game.

“We've got to be intelligent enough to expect it, even the Ipswich (Town) game where they came out and pressed very aggressively.

“We've got to expect that, be ready for the physical challenge, especially this weekend, but not so much so that it affects our decision-making on the ball.”

Despite conceding early in the last two games, Parkinson will not tell his players to be cautious in the opening minutes.

Before Fleetwood’s visit to the Stadium of Light last week, Sunderland had developed a welcome habit of scoring regularly in the first half of games at home.

“We always look to start quick and get the opposition on the back foot, home or away,” Parkinson said.

“We don't want to invite pressure.

“But my message to the players is to be ready for the physical challenge and being closed down early, but be calm enough to make the right choice.

“The Fleetwood game, it's two or three sloppy backwards passes and against Coventry, the same thing happened.

“We can't be too uptight about it, but we know what we've got to do. “