Sunderland captain John O'Shea says they're still a Premier League club thanks to manager Gus Poyet.
Poyet found himself up against it from the off with the club having collected just a single point from their first seven games when he replaced Paolo Di Canio in October last year, and O'Shea paid tribute to the work done by the Uruguayan and his staff.
He said: "We took only one point from the first seven games so right from the moment the gaffer came in we have been chasing teams.
"But it's to the credit of the head coach and his staff that they have stuck to their guns in terms of how they wanted us to play.
"They have got their ideas across about how they want to see us create chances, and so credit is due to them as well as to the players who have worked hard to put these ideas into practice."
