Phil Bardsley confident of Sunderland survival

Phil Bardsley is adamant that Sunderland are good enough to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

The Black Cats, having replaced former manager Paolo Di Canio with Gus Poyet earlier this term, sit bottom of the table and three points adrift of safety.

Sunderland picked up a 1-0 win over title contenders Manchester City prior to the international break, but followed this up with a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.

"We need to get to grips with that quite quick," Bardsley told Sky Sports News. "Coming off the back of a great result against Manchester City we were full of confidence, as I say, just really disappointed the way the whole game went and the outcome of it. We've got to dig deep.

"We've got a good enough squad here to get out of this scrap. It's up to us. It's alright us coming on camera, saying we're going to do this, that and the other.

"It's about when we step over that white line. The weekend was a disappointing result, coming off the back of the Man City win. We need to put that right again."

Sunderland travel to Aston Villa on Saturday.