David Moyes has admitted that Sunderland's recent upturn in fortunes has given him renewed hope of finishing the season well away from the relegation zone.
The Black Cats have recovered from their annual bad start to the Premier League campaign, in which they took 11 games to pick up their first victory, by accruing nine points from the last 12 on offer.
Sunderland have become experts at battling the drop in recent seasons, but Moyes believes that the only way is up for his men if they can overcome bottom-placed Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon, with victory enough to take his side out of the bottom three.
"There has been a change," he is quoted as saying by Chronicle Live. "If you'd said to us a month ago that we'd win three of our next four games, I don't think there would have been many people who agreed with you.
"We're going to have to keep this run going as long as we can, and if we can't do that then we're going to need two or three more runs like this over the course of the season if we are going to give ourselves a realistic chance of continuing to be a Premier League club. But if we can win against Swansea, I want us to start looking towards the middle of the table.
"I don't see why we shouldn't - I don't see why we wouldn't be able to get in amongst the teams above us. Of course, we have to make sure we can crawl before we start walking, and we are only crawling at the moment. If we can get up onto our feet, hopefully we can keep it going."
Sunderland, who could be tempted to move for Marouane Fellaini on loan to strengthen their squad in January, follow up their clash against Swansea with a visit from Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
Daniel Lewis
