Connor Wickham is adamant that Sunderland are “in a positive position”

and should be looking up the Premier League table despite being just one point clear of the relegation zone.

The Black Cats have had this weekend off because of Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Reading on Saturday and that gave some of the teams below them an opportunity to close the gap.

Burnley lost 1-0 at Everton, but Leicester made it three successive wins thanks to a 2-0 home victory against Swansea at the King Power Stadium to move to within a point of the Wearsiders.

Hull City remain in 17th between Sunderland and Leicester with Steve Bruce’s side only ahead of the Foxes on goal difference in what is turning into a tense scrap for survival.

Despite the clear danger of being dragged into the bottom three, Wickham feels that Dick Advocaat’s side should be focusing on catching the teams above them as opposed to looking over their shoulders.

“It has been a long season so far but we’re in a positive position,”
the striker told the club’s official website.

“We didn’t have a good result last weekend [lost 4-1 at home to Crystal Palace] but we have been playing well under the new head coach and we can use this week to make sure our preparation is right for the next game.

“We will keep an eye on the results that occur around us and we can use it to our advantage, because going into next weekend we will know exactly what we need to produce.

“That said, we’re not looking down the table because the league is so tight that if can win one game you can move up three places. There are a lot of points still to play for so hopefully we can move up the table.”

Sunderland, who are 1.91 to be relegated, can be backed at 4.33 to win their next Premier League game against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium next Saturday. The Potters are 1.85 to win and the draw is 3.30.