Sunderland legend Niall Quinn has backed Paolo di Canio to keep the club up.
Sunderland are at Aston Villa tonight for a massive six pointer.
"Paolo Di Canio has brought an incredible zest to the team right now," Quinn told the Evening Chronicle. "How long it lasts is the big question.
"But hopefully it will last for a long, long time. They will do enough, I think, to stay up, and good luck to them, I think it will be great.
"I had seven years at Sunderland as a player nearly and six odd years in an administrative role and the club gets to you a little bit.
"I'm delighted to see it going so well. There's a lot of good people behind the scenes that nobody knows about. So I'm thrilled with that.
"I have to feel for Martin O'Neill, who is a great manager with great history and it ended a little bluntly for him.
"But overall, Sunderland are going grand now."