Sunderland midfielder Luke O’Nien insists the Black Cats players are not surprised their form has improved under Phil Parkinson, as they look forward to facing Doncaster Rovers on Friday evening.

A rejuvenated Sunderland side are scheduled to take on Doncaster at the Stadium of Light in a crunch League One fixture just before the weekend.   

 



The Black Cats tumbled down the League One table under Parkinson, putting the manager under pressure, but have bounced back, going unbeaten in their last seven games, winning four.

O'Nein is relishing the chance to extend that run against Doncaster, but knows there is still work to do on the training pitch.
 


“Doncaster will be an exciting game, but we have a lot of work to do before then", he told his club's official site.



“At the moment we are building week in week out. When the gaffer came in it took a while for us to adjust and do what he asked of us.

“Each week we showed a bit of improvement and we knew results would come if we kept focusing on the things that we needed too."
 

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The Sunderland star feels that hard work has been a key factor in an improvement the players always knew would come.

“We’re not surprised things have picked up for us because we have worked hard, and we all know what we are doing.

“We are in a good spot, but we need to keep working and focusing so we can continue this good run of form.”

Doncaster have had a spell of inconsistent form, winning three of their last five games, but losing twice, with one of those defeats at home to Sunderland.