Phil Parkinson wants to see his Sunderland side punish teams after 'dominance' over Bristol Rovers

The Black Cats boss was left frustrated by the 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers in their League One opener

Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson wants to see his side punish teams who come to the Stadium of Light to defend.

The Black Cats boss was frustrated with the 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers on Saturday, especially as he felt they had dominated the second half.

Sunderland had 25 shots against the Gas, but had to rely on Chris Maguire's late strike to earn them an opening-day draw.

And while Parkinson felt that was the least his side deserved for their second-half 'domination', he wants to see them display more of a killer instinct in front of goal.

"When we started to play we got better and better, and in the second half it was complete domination," said Parkinson, who watched his side fall behind to a third-minute penalty.

"We had chance after chance, things cleared off the line, the keeper has made some good saves and we hit the post.

"We've got our rewards with the goal - in the second half I thought we were excellent.

"But with the dominance we've had, we've got punish teams more than we did."

Parkinson felt Sunderland's initial response to going behind was a bit 'frantic' but bemoaned the lack of a clinical touch which could have turned their efforts on Saturday into a winning start.

Games against Oxford, Peterborough and Charlton are next up for the Black Cats, in which chances could be harder to come by.

Which makes taking them all the more important.

"We addressed the bit of frantic play in the first period to play with a lot more calmness and thought when we had the ball," Parkinson added.

"We completely pinned them in in the second period - there was always the element of getting caught on the break as we know they had the pace and power at the top of the pitch - but in general we've had complete domination and we should have put them to bed by being more clinical.

"But we'll get better in that department."

Parkinson reserved a special mention for goalscorer Maguire after another impressive display from the Scot.

"He kept looking for the ball, kept probing, and looking to create things for us," he added. "It was a terrific finish."