Sunderland fullback Billy Jones admits they must toughen up if they're to beat the drop.

The Black Cats were outplayed by Sunderland on Saturday.

Jones told the Sunderland Echo: “The only positive we have at this moment in time is knowing we're not cut adrift.

“I think we just need to keep working hard, stay together and keep that belief. You get that first and foremost from good team performances, if you can get those week in week out and hit that level of consistency, the results will come. It starts from doing the basics.

“In previous years it's come from hard work, doing everything we can to stay in the game and feel our way into it. Eventually we'll win the games.

“I know last year when we went on some good runs, we weren't even always playing that well at times, but we'd at least stay in the game and get a clean sheet and that's a point.

“We just need that performance to give us confidence and set the bar, that's the level we need to hit consistently."