SUNDERLAND'S Carl Robinson yesterday warned Brighton that they could be on the end of a good hiding on Saturday.

The 28-year-old midfielder, who was on the receiving end of some rough and tumble himself on Monday night in his side's gritty 1-0 victory at Rotherham, believes Sunderland are about to step up a gear for the big promotion push.

The win against the Millers extended the Black Cats' unbeaten run to four games and ensured they leapfrogged former side Sheffield United to sixth place in the Championship table. They are now only five points adrift of second-placed Reading.

Robinson, who was again pivotal in the Wearsiders' triumph in south Yorkshire, made 14 appearances for the Millers last season after a spell on loan from Portsmouth.

Unfortunately, his time spent there wasn't remembered as fondly as he would have imagined, and he was on the receiving end of an elbow to the face, which broke his nose.

The Wales international, however, was magnanimous in the Wearsiders' victory and chose to praise his former club's fighting spirit rather than talk about the controversial blow to his face

"Rotherham was a massive win for us," said Robinson. "It's all very well them being bottom but it's a difficult place to go to.

"They're fighting to show the new manager - if there is going to be one - what they can do and they're scrapping for every point."

Mick McCarthy's side has been labelled dull and uninventive after a series of 1-0 victories and low scoring draws.

Robinson, however, believes Sunderland are on the verge of taking the step up to a higher level, and added Brighton could suffer.

He said: "We're back in the top six and that's where we feel this club belongs. Now we're there it's a case of clinging on to the coat tails of the leading clubs and picking up the pace each week.

"We feel as if we're about to reach the next level and the platform is there.

"Brighton could feel the full force of our attacking football. I think we'd all be happy to win 30 games 1-0 than ten games 4-0.

"At this stage of the season you're looking for as many points as possible and goals are a bonus. But we could be scoring more.

"When we got it down at Rotherham and played our football, which we did in the second half, we played some super stuff and created so many chances.

"On another day we could have scored four or five goals. It's a concern that we didn't in a way.

"Come the end of the season we need to make sure our goal difference is as good as, or even better than, those teams around us because it will be so close."