Phil Parkinson believes Sunderland’s players have given themselves a solid platform in recent weeks to kick on and achieve their goal of promotion.
The Black Cats continue their League One campaign this weekend when they make the trip to MK Dons for the first time since 2012.
Riding high on a six-game unbeaten run, the Lads have won their last two home games – defeating Lincoln City and then leaders Wycombe Wanderers.
But with an away game now on the horizon, Parkinson has talked up the need for his players to keep their feet firmly on the throttle as they look to reproduce another high-octane display.
“We said after the Christmas period that the aim was to get back in amongst it,” he said.
“We have achieved that and now we have given ourselves a platform to push on between now and the end of the season.
“If we can reproduce the performance level of late then we will have a great chance of coming back with a positive result.
“It’s all elements of the game that we keep stressing to the players,” he continued.
“Their work rate off the ball and closing down are all elements of the game that we need to get right if we want to be a successful team.
“It’s about doing both sides of the game - our creativity and movement - but also when the ball changes hands we have got to win it back as quickly as possible.
“You can see the work we have done on the training pitch coming out in the games and we have got to continue that.”
