Kevin Phillips has described as a massive one in the life of Sunderland.

The Black Cats will avoid the drop if they can record at least one point from their final two fixtures against Arsenal and Chelsea but former striker Phillips feels things from there will need to improve drastically if they want to evade another relegation battle.

"I've been saying all along that at some point it'll come up and bite you on the backside and relegation will happen," he said in the Daily Mail.

"I fear for Sunderland if that was to happen because financially it would be a massive kick in the teeth. I think they'll be okay this year and then next season is huge for them."