Anton Ferdinand concedes Sunderland are not yet safe from the drop.
Sunderland were thrashed 5-0 at Manchester City on Sunday.
Ferdinand told The Journal: "We have to be looking over our shoulders now, definitely, because the league is that tight.
"But it is down to us as players to get back to winning ways. We need to look at ourselves, nobody else but ourselves, and we are going to have to do that next weekend at home to West Brom, a team who are fighting for their lives.
"There are not any excuses. We all have to look at ourselves, get on with training this week and make sure we are going into Saturday positive and on the front foot."
