Sunderland captain John O'Shea has insisted that his side have to start pushing higher up the Premier League after being involved in relegation battles over the past three seasons.

The Black Cats avoided the drop last season as Dick Advocaat guided the club to 12 points in his nine games in charge, following the sacking of Gus Poyet, to help them finish in 16th place in the top flight.

However, O'Shea has insisted that the Wearsiders have to avoid being in the same situation for the fourth campaign in a row, and feels that they have to build slowly to establish themselves as a mid-table team.

O'Shea is quoted as saying by the Daily Star: "I'm sure the owner and the people on the board would love a season where it is really enjoyable. Like when we got to the League Cup Final in 2014 and there was a great buzz around the place.

"But last season we struggled and if you look at the stats – the number of goals we scored, the amount of games we drew – we can consider ourselves lucky not to have been relegated.

"The club are really looking forward to building things because when you look at it – the size of the club, the people who support us, the fans who travel to away games – this is a big club. We should be higher up the table. We would like a season where it is seen that we are building."

Sunderland have been linked with moves to sign Leeds United defender Sam Byram and Arsenal's Carl Jenkinson so far this summer.