What the end of the season means for Phil Parkinson as Sunderland face a third season in League One

That’s according to Sunderland Echo chief football writer Phil Smith, who was quizzed on Parkinson’s future as part of his weekly Q&A.

With the League One season set to come to an end in the coming days, sporting merit solutions are set to be applied to the third tier – all of which would see the Black Cats miss out on promotion.

But Parkinson looks set to remain in charge next season.

In response to a question from one supporter on whether the Sunderland manager could depart this summer if promotion wasn’t achieved, Smith said: “It always felt slightly at odds that despite Parkinson being announced by the ownership as the man to secure promotion this season, the contract was two-and-a-half years.

“To me, that’s an indication that there would be no change in the scenario you’ve outlined.

“He appears to have absolute backing of the hierarchy and I suspect they would point to the vastly improved record since Christmas as evidence that he could win promotion over a full season.

“That significant dip in the last four games before the postponement, however, increasingly looks as if it could be one of the most significant stretches of results in a long time.

“If any kind of ‘sporting merit’ solution is used to settle tables, it will probably be the difference between promotion and a third season in League One.