Under-fire Phil Parkinson drops hint about his future after talks with Sunderland owner Stewart Donald

Fuming fans vented their fury during the second half as it became clear Sunderland, without a win in nine in all competitions, would be dropping more points at home.

There were chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’, ‘We Want Parky out’ while there were also chants in support of Kevin Phillips, previously linked with the role.

Parkinson retains the support of owner Stewart Donald, for now at least, and the pair spoke about January transfer targets post match.

Under-fire Parkinson said he can understand the fan frustration and again backed himself to turn the tide on Wearside. Parkinson has, however, now only won two out of 14 games since replacing Jack Ross.

Parkinson said: “It is difficult, the club has had a lot of managers over a short period of time, whatever way you look at it, I have had promotions out of this division.

“At the moment we are struggling to find that winning formula but have I become a poor manager overnight?

“My record would suggest to everybody it is as strong as anybodies. You have difficult periods, you have to be resilient and come through them.

“You can keep chopping and changing managers but quite often that doesn’t prove successful as everyone knows.”

When pressed on whether he had had any assurances from Stewart Donald, who was in attendance at the Stadium of Light, Parkinson said: “I spoke to the chairman this morning and after the game. He has left now. We had a good chat.

“He’s asking about January and talking about several targets we have been discussing with him over the last few weeks.”

Asked about the calls for him to be sacked, Parkinson added: “I understand the frustration of the supporters, they paid their money to come and watch the team.

“They have a passion to see their team win games of football.

“We haven’t done that enough. I totally understand their frustration.”

Asked if there was a message of hope for fans?

Parkinson said: “We want to get into January, add a bit of quality to help the ones we have got already. If we do that I am confident we will turn these draws into wins.”

A section of fans had called for Kevin Phillips to replace Parkinson, the Sunderland manager, when asked about that specifically, he added: “It is not ideal, you wouldn’t choose to stand there and listen to that but I understand the frustration of the supporters.

“I have to concentrate on Doncaster and what I have to do.”

This is not the first time Sunderland fans have turned on Parkinson, asked whether he can turn the tide with the home fans, he added: “The only way you turn the tide is by getting wins and that is what we have got to do over this Christmas period.

“A lot of the play was decent, we need to improve on that and be more clinical in and around the opposition penalty box.

“Their keeper made some good saved and we weren’t as clinical as we need to be.

“Periods of dominance in games has to result in goals, it settles everyone down, you saw today, we had enough good play and approach play and got in enough good areas, we need key players to step up to the plate and produce moments to give everyone a lift and settle the crowd down as well.”