Sunderland are rediscovering their home comforts - and it is powering their promotion bid.
That’s the view of assistant manager Steve Parkin, as the Black Cats beat Rochdale 3-0 to make it seven games unbeaten on Wearside.
The Stadium of Light was an edgy place at times in the early part of the season but since the turn of the year results have improved dramatically and the mood with it, and Parkin says the players are feeding off that.
He said: “It’s not always easy to win back-to-back home games, but you can see that there’s a kind of confidence coming from the crowd now which is feeding through to the players.
“There’s a real enthusiasm in the changing room before the game, they feel confident, they feel the crowd will be right behind them and they feel that they can go out and put on a display at home which is really important.
“Confidence is a massive thing and once they feel that they have got the whole stadium behind them and wanting to do well, it does make a big difference - especially for some of the younger players who are not that experienced at dealing with it.”
Sunderland’s win kept the pressure on at the top end of the table, with the Black Cats moving up to fifth.
They have cut the gap between themselves and the automatic promotion places to four points, and they have two games in hand of second-placed Peterborough United.
Parkin said: “There are a few teams that seem to be timing it nicely!
“It’s a cliche, but you have to take it one game at a time - it’s the only way you can do it.
“There are some really good teams who are going to win a lot of games between now and the end of the season, and we have to make sure we are one of them.”
