Phil Parkinson insists Sunderland will ‘come out fighting’ after their defeat at Coventry City meant they missed the chance to move into the automatic places.
Had they won at St Andrew’s, the Black Cats would have leapfrogged the Sky Blues to move second.
But instead Matt Godden’s early goal was enough to see off Sunderland and send Coventry to the summit of League One.
It leaves Sunderland fifth in the table, four points behind Rotherham United - who are now second - and six behind Coventry, who also have a game in hand of the Wearsiders.
Parkinson said: “We would have taken this position around the Christmas period [when Sunderland were 15th] and, as much as we are disappointed today, there is still all to play for and we have to be ready for the last ten games.
“We are still in the mix and we have to dust ourselves down after this.
“We have to take a deep breath and get ready to go again next Saturday.
“The lads are disappointed, so are the staff, but that’s football and you have to come out fighting and we will do that.”
Sunderland begin the final countdown next weekend, when Gillingham visit the Stadium of Light.
