Sunderland's renaissance under the guidance of Lee Johnson has hit a stumbling block this month as they have lost ground in their battle for automatic promotion.

Having lost to Charlton Athletic last weekend, the Black Cats would have been hoping to bounce back during their clash with Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.

However, Sunderland missed out on the opportunity to close the gap on Peterborough United and Hull City as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the DW Stadium.

Set to play Blackpool tomorrow, the Black Cats know that they may be forced to settle for the lottery of the play-offs if they fail to pick up all three points in this particular fixture.

Making reference to his side's recent slump in form, Johnson has insisted that the Black Cats are still determined to fight until the very end of the season as they look to secure a return to the Championship.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo ahead of his side's visit to Bloomfield Road, the 39-year-old said: "We have to strive for the maximum points, the only way you do that is by nailing the process.

"That has been our downfall, the concentration and the process that leads to that.

"We have come from a long way behind to get here, it is now how we can respond."

Johnson later added: "It is a challenge for us internally, we want to start another run.

"We will fight to the death.

"If we don't secure automatic [promotion] then we need to be in good form and peaking for the play-offs."

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

Sunderland's slump has come at the worst time imaginable as they now face an almighty task to leapfrog Peterborough in the League One standings.

With six games left to play this season, the Black Cats arguably need to emerge victorious in every fixture in order to put Posh under a considerable amount of pressure.

Although Johnson will be under no illusions about how difficult it will be to secure a positive result against Blackpool on Saturday, he will hoping that the likes of Aiden McGeady and Charlie Wyke will be able to fire his side to victory.

Whilst Wyke has found the back of the net on 23 occasions in League One this season, his team-mate has provided 13 assists in 25 appearances.

By beating the Tangerines, Sunderland could gain some much-needed momentum which could be used to help them secure promotion via the play-offs next month if they fail to catch Peterborough and Hull.