Sunderland defender Danny Collins believes they can finish in the top seven this season.
Despite defeat to Liverpool, Collins told The Journal: "If we'd have won we could have gone eighth, as it is we could still be looking over our shoulders. But we have enough here to be pushing on for the top half.
"We have still got to face some of the teams around us and we are confident we can get the points to push on. As a player you have to look at the positives and we are just five points from the top six or seven.
"We have the boys, the squad is good enough to get the points to get into those places. We have the teams in and around us to come to the Stadium of Light and I'm sure we will be in the top of the pile of the group around us."