Midfielder Sebastian Larsson insists Sunderland cannot afford to rest on their laurels after two Premier League wins in a week.

The Black Cats beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park last Monday night and followed it up with victory over Stoke at the Stadium of Light at the weekend.

Goals from Patrick van Aanholt and Duncan Watmore against the Potters ensured Sam Allardyce’s men climbed out of the relegation zone, with Bournemouth, Newcastle and Aston Villa now in the bottom three.

But Larsson knows there is still a long way to go this season despite their upturn in fortunes since ‘Big Sam’ succeeded Dick Advocaat in the dug-out.

The Sweden international said: “Two wins is massive and of course it pushes you up and it sort of sends the message that you are the team on the way up, and we need to capitalise on that and keep going because we know how quickly it can change.

“We are not going to get ahead of ourselves by any means, but we knew these two wins were massive.”

The Black Cats return to action against title-chasers Arsenal on Saturday and are 15.00 to leave the Emirates Stadium with all three points.

December is a tricky looking month for the Wearsiders as they also take on Chelsea and Manchester City away from home as well as entertaining Liverpool on December 30.

Allardyce’s men are now 1.62 to be relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.