Sunderland fullback George McCartney admits recent results have not been good enough.

McCartney insists they can still qualify for Europe, but need to start beating teams around them.

He told The Journal: "Last season there were a lot of changes, the managers were coming and going and we didn't have a settled team or backroom team.

"Steve Bruce has come in and had his own ideas. We started the season really well, but we have got to be disappointed with the defeats we have had to Birmingham, Stoke, Burnley and then a draw with Portsmouth.

"If you want to go places, these are the teams you have to be winning.

"We want to push into Europe and in the last few weeks we have not been performing.

"It's the tightest league I have seen in a long time, from the bottom up to seventh. A couple of wins and you are up there, just like a couple of defeats and you are down there.

"After the start we have had and the money the club has spent, with the players we have in the team, we should be looking to push into the top half.

"We have slipped away in the last few weeks and luckily we built up enough points at the start of the season that keeps us up in 10th at the moment. But we need to get back to winning ways in the next few weeks."