Steve Bruce has asked Sunderland fans to give him time to turn around the club's fortunes.

Question marks hang over Bruce's future with the Black Cats as they sit in 16th place in the table with just one win and six points from their first seven games.

"I hope that people still have faith in me," Bruce told the Northern Echo. "I know people will be questioning me, of course they are. But I'm a determined, resilient, horrible so-and-so and I'll try my utmost to turn it around.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I'm not going to put up the white flag now. I knew what it would be like and the challenge is still the same for me - can we get a team together that mount a sustained challenge in the top ten?"

Last week Niall Quinn stepped down from his role as chairman at the Stadium of Light.