Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips hopes his old club can avoid relegation.

Hope for Phillips comes from what he has seen at this stage from Sunderland in previous seasons.

“They're having a tough time at the moment," he told the Sunderland Echo.

“Unfortunately, it has been like that for the last two of three seasons.

“I just hope that this isn't the season it does bite them in the backside and they get relegated.

“They're cut adrift at the bottom at the moment, but the history has shown and suggests that, when they've been up against it at the end of the season, they've dug the results out and got over the line."