Sunderland defender John O'Shea says they need to start grinding out results.

O'Shea is fully aware that Sunderland will be dragged into a dogfight if they do not stop the rot quickly.

"We are taking the relegation threat very seriously," he said. "We have come off in the last three games and thought 'how have we not got anything from these games'.

"The next thing you know there's eight or nine games left and we think 'here you go' relegation is not too far away. The sooner you get the wins on the board the better."