Tom Flanagan says Sunderland's players still feel they 'owe something' to former manager Jack Ross following his sacking back in October.
After missing out on promotion in the play-off final last season, and also losing in the EFL Trophy final last term, Ross was sacked when Sunderland failed to make the stellar start to the current campaign demanded by fans and owner Stewart Donald.
He was not out of work for long and took over at Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in November, while Phil Parkinson replaced him on Wearside.
Nonetheless, Flanagan says the players brought to Sunderland by Ross - which make up the majority of the squad - feel that they need to repay their former manager after their early-season performances failed to deliver the results that might have saved his job.
"I don't need to tell you that Jack Ross knew that it was a results thing," said Northern Ireland international Flanagan
"It didn't quite work for him at that time.
"But I think that the players who are playing at the moment still owe him something.
"And I feel that the manager now [Parkinson] would definitely say that as well because a lot of the players were players that he [Ross] has recruited.
"It's down to this manager now. He's getting the best out of the players, and I think that says a lot about his management technique.
"He likes to talk to the boys.
"He's good on the training pitches, very positive around the place and there's a good energy.
"We're all just feeding off that same energy."
The Black Cats are still waiting to hear when and if the EFL campaign will restart following the enforced shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and if the season can be completed they still have a good chance of winning promotion as they are only three points outside the automatic places with eight games remaining.
Flanagan said: "We've still got plenty of points to play for and we're not out of it by any stretch of the imagination.
"I'm sure the how the table is at the moment isn't how it will finish, and there's lots of more twists and turns to come.
"We've got to look forward to it."
