Chris Coleman says Sunderland are making progress in their relegation battle - but admits it is slow going in the transfer market.
The Black Cats were bottom of the Championship with 11 points from 17 games, four points adrift of fourth-bottom, having won only one match, and having failed to keep a single clean sheet when Coleman took charge in November.
But since then they have won four and drawn two of their 11 games under the Welshman, enough to lift them off the foot of the table although they remain in the bottom three on goal difference.
They have overtaken Burton Albion and their next opponents Birmingham City, but Burton - along with Bolton Wanderers - have begun to pick up results themselves of late.
And Sunderland need to add more signings during the transfer window, in particular a couple of strikers and a midfielder, to help them climb out of the drop zone and claw their way to safety, with on-loan Chelsea defender Jake Clarke-Salter the only new face to arrive so far.
Sunderland manager Chris Coleman (Image: Sunderland AFC)
“It is such a competitive league,” said Coleman. “We just have to put a run of games together, all the other managers in and around us will be saying the same thing.
“Some teams around us have had their best run of the season.
“There has been a progression recently, it hasn’t been enough to get us out of the bottom three but it is something we can build on. It is not a hopeless task.
“It will be a stronger push for us if we get in this window what we want and what we need. We can build on that and be even better to get the points we need.”
Sunderland’s win over fourth-bottom Hull City last weekend was crucial to the Black Cats’ survival bid, and next Tuesday’s visit to St Andrew’s to face the Blues will be no less important.
But while Coleman recognises the importance of winning against teams around them in the table, he believes Sunderland are capable of getting points against any team in the division - as they proved when holding runaway leaders Wolves to a draw away from home, despite playing half-an-hour with only ten men, last month.
Coleman said: “I think in this league, as I look at it, Wolves are the stand-out team.
“If you are in the Premier League you look at the likes of Manchester United, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and you can isolate those and if we get something from those games then great.
“In this league, you can look at every game and say we have a chance of getting something - every game is an opportunity for us.
“I don’t look at games and think ‘we need something super special there’.
“I know we’re in the bottom three but I don’t see one team and look at it go we need something extra special.
“They are all opportunities. We can get points in every game.”