Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet can understand the decision to replace Martin O'Neill by Paolo di Canio.

Di Canio is still getting to know the players he inherited from the Ulsterman, whose demise was greeted philosophically by Mignolet.

He said: "In my short career, I know what it is when a manager leaves and when a new manager comes in.

"There's always one factor that is always the same, and it's when there are not enough points and when the results go against you, and unfortunately, that happened for Martin O'Neill.

"As a team when you don't get the results, there's always something to change and you always need something to happen to get a turn-around.

"The club has tried to do that with appointing a new manager. We had a great first half against Chelsea, we also had a decent second half against Manchester United - let's hope we can combine those two halves now into one game against Newcastle."