Larsson urges Sunderland to embrace season run-in

Sebastian Larsson has called on his Sunderland team-mates to draw inspiration from previous seasons as they aim to avoid relegation.

With the season entering into the closing stages, the Black Cats once again find themselves at the wrong end of the table, currently two points adrift of safety.

It’s a situation they are all too familiar with however, having finished fourth, fifth and seventh-bottom the last three campaigns.

(Photo by James Baylis – AMA/Getty Images)

Last year they secured their safety after a 3-0 win over Everton at the Stadium of Light on May 12 having surprisingly beaten Chelsea 3-2 in the previous game.

And ahead of another clash with Everton this weekend, this time at Goodison Park, Larsson was keen to send out a rallying cry.

“It’s a tough run of games we’ve got, starting with Everton. But looking back at previous seasons, it’s this stage of the season when strange things happen,” he said.

“We’ve picked up many points in games where people probably haven’t backed us.  So let’s hope that’s going to happen again.

“We’ve spoken about how important it is to keep clean sheets and be tough to break down, especially at this stage of the season.

“We feel like if we can get in front we can stay solid and we’re tough to break down.

“But unfortunately a few too many times when we’ve gone behind we haven’t been strong enough to turn things around so that’s something we have to improve.”