Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has admitted that he "really likes" the pressure of taking charge of a football team.

The Uruguayan coach helped pull the Black Cats out of a relegation battle last season and currently sits 15th with the North-East outfit in the Premier League table.

"I like pressure because it's the way I have been brought up," Poyet said in this afternoon's press conference. "When you are in Uruguay and when you play football for the national team, the pressure is there to win. There is no other result, so it is part of my life.

"Can I work without pressure? I don't know, I have never done it so far. I have never played football or managed without pressure.

"I suppose it would be nice, but maybe I would not be myself after because I don't have the pressure. It's part of the game. I like it, I really like it."

Yesterday, Poyet wrote an open letter to the Sunderland supporters.