SUNDERLAND captain Corry Evans has shouldered blame for their recent collapse in league form but assured fans his team mates are working hard to get the feel good factor back on Wearside.

The Black Cats are without a win in six and have managed just one win in their last ten. However, faint hopes of promotion for League One this season are not out of reach having climbed back into the play-off places with Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against Burton Albion.

The task doesn’t get any easier this weekend when they make the trip to second place Wigan Athletic this weekend.

Evans, 31, said: “Yeah it’s difficult. Individually It's difficult and I take responsibility for being team captain, I share a lot of that load and am just trying to help the team get back to winning ways.

“It’s been a tough period and we need to get the feelgood factor back and try to get a win.”

The experienced Northern Irish midfielder he been through similar rough spells before during the course of his career. However, he admits the Sunderland shirt carries a lot of weight at the moment and they need to arrest their slump in form as soon as possible.

Evans added: “Probably my time at Blackburn we went through a tricky spell so I’ve had experience of it.

“Obviously at this club there’s a lot more pressure and you feel every defeat, even today a draw feels like a defeat but we need to pick ourselves up and go again. We have no option, we have to keep fighting and keep going.

“Hopefully we can get a win as quickly as possible and that can be a catalyst for the rest of the season. As I mentioned we just have to keep going and keep trying to rectify it.

“We can’t really put our finger on why at the minute but we have to keep pushing and trying as best we can.”