George Dobson is convinced Sunderland are heading in the right direction under new manager Phil Parkinson, despite his baptism of fire in his new role.
With multiple games every week since arriving at the Stadium of Light to succeed Jack Ross, Parkinson has managed just two wins from his opening six games in charge of the Black Cats.
But that record is not reflective of an improvement in performances and attacking intent from the side, and also more solid defensive displays which has coincided with the first two league clean sheets of the campaign.
And despite limited time to work with the new manager and assistant Steve Parkin on the training pitches, Dobson believes there are already signs of his style being implemented, and Sunderland moving in the right direction.
He told the match day programme: "It’s important not to be so downbeat as I think it’s obvious that our performances have improved since the new manager arrived.
"We are on the right track but we have to turn those positive performances into wins. Our results have been a bit stop-start in the league so it’s up to us to go on a really positive run that fires us up the table and puts pressure on the top two.
"I’ve really enjoyed working under the new manager and his assistant, as I enjoy the way they play and the style they have introduced.
"It’s high energy and they want us to dominate games, and although we haven’t had a full week due to the amount of fixtures, I think you can already see that style starting to come through."
Sunderland have a short break from league action currently, and will be hoping to advance to the second round of the FA Cup on Saturday when they host Gillingham at the Stadium of Light in a 1pm kick-off.
