MIKE Dodds says he has the full support of Sunderland's dressing room despite an alarming run of defeats and believes two key factors need to be considered when assessing the Black Cats' slide out of play-off contention and down the Championship table.

Sunderland's last three defeats have all come against teams currently in the top six and Dodds says that needs to be taken into account, especially considering he's been without key players, including star man Jack Clarke.

Dodds has taken positives from recent displays and was adamant Sunderland were "better than Southampton for large spells" on Saturday, despite the fact Saints could have been out of sight after a dominant first half.

Sunderland battled back after the break and levelled through Romaine Mundle and Jobe Bellingham, only to then concede a quickfire double as they slumped to their sixth successive defeat.

The Black Cats are now closer to the relegation zone than they are the top six in terms of points but Dodds has called for unity.

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He said: "It feels like at the moment we have a number of challenges in our way and those challenges aren't being alleviated, they're being added to.

"It's a really important moment for this group and me in terms of sticking to our beliefs and sticking together.

"I know the players are giving everything. We've played against two top class oppositions (Leicester and Southampton) and even Norwich, they have a Premier League budget and still have their parachute money.

"We've faced three teams that have significant infrastructure in terms of squad depth and those types of things. There was nothing in the game against Norwich, we more than deserved to get at least a point against Leicester and I'm not going to say we deserved to win the game today, you don't deserve to win if you concede four goals like that, but I do feel like for large spells of that game we were better than Southampton.

"There is some encouragement but I also appreciate it's six defeats on the bounce and four since I've taken over.

"The two bits that give me some reassurance is the standard of the opposition in relation to the number of injuries we've got. When you're playing against top teams, you need your squad available and that's not the case at the moment.

"And I think - or I know - the group are fully on board with me because if they weren't they wouldn't put in the level of effort they have this week over three games."

Dodds made three changes to the team on Saturday on the back of the defeat to Leicester but opted against starting starting Adil Aouchiche, despite his promising cameo from the bench against the Foxes.

"Adil was definitely unlucky not to start," said Dodds.

"I just felt Riggy's performance in midweek was so good he deserved another opportunity. It was a decision, do I take Riggy out and give him a breather or keep him in? I thought he deserved to stay in and that was the ultimate decision."

"I thought Naz came on and his energy and enthusiasm added to what we were trying to do," he added.

"Adil and Naz have forced their way forward in terms of next weekend, we've got to do our preparation and diligence for QPR but by coming on and playing as they did, they give themselves every chance."