MICK McCarthy last night admitted that back-to-back wins over Gillingham and Nottingham Forest had helped to lift an "air of despondancy" that was beginning to hang over the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats travelled to the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday stranded in 16th place in the Championship table but, after Saturday's 4-0 rout, last night's 2-0 defeat of Forest lifted them into the top eight for the first time this season.

Two goals in the first 11 minutes from Julio Arca and Stephen Wright were enough to see off a largely disappointing Forest side, and to ward off the possibility of a threatened sit-in protest against chairman Bob Murray.

McCarthy was never worried about the mood of his players as they won just one of their first six league games this season, but he admits to concerns at the rumblings of discontent that were beginning to emanate from the fans.

"The two wins make a huge difference to the feeling around the place," said the Black Cats boss. "How people feel around in the stadium and around the area.

"There was a little air of despondancy - not within the training ground, but I could feel it creeping in.

"It was important that we kept believing in ourselves, and the players did that. That allowed us to get the result on Saturday and, in turn, that win gave us the opportunity to win again against Nottingham Forest."

Six goals in two games have proved that Sunderland can succeed without the injured Kevin Kyle but, just as tellingly, consecutive clean sheets have confirmed the effectiveness of a defensive unit that was one of the Black Cats' great strengths last term.

George McCartney, Stephen Wright and Stephen Caldwell have all spent time on the sidelines this term but, with the trio partnering skipper Gary Breen last night, McCarthy was quick to praise what he clearly considers to be his first-choice backline.

"We've been scoring goals all season," he said. "But I said to the players that it might be nice to keep a clean sheet. I would even have taken a 0-0 at some stage but, in the last two games, I think we've been much more solid as a unit.

"Wrighty is back in and, with Breen and McCartney, you've got three members of my first-choice back four from last season.

"I think Caldwell has got to the pace now, and him and Breen look a better partnership than they did early on."