SUNDERLAND'S promotion chasers were last night given a timely reminder by manager Mick McCarthy and defender Gary Breen: 'We have achieved nothing yet'.

The Black Cats travel to play-off rivals Ipswich Town - 3-1 winners at Rotherham on Saturday - this afternoon hoping to continue the rich vein of form which has seen them win their last five Division One matches.

Good Friday's 3-0 success over Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light closed the gap, albeit temporarily, on the top two to five points.

Both Norwich and West Brom then won their first Easter fixtures and now Sunderland are once again eight points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

McCarthy's men look like the only club who can seriously challenge the Canaries and the Baggies - particularly as the two leaders have to visit Wearside before the end of the campaign.

And Breen said: "We were delighted to get the three points against Sheffield United because it has helped us strengthen our position and it's where we want to be at this stage of the season.

"It's going well at the moment but we have to make sure that we continue to play like we have been.

"We have aspirations of going up automatically and we know these games are all tough. Monday, at Ipswich, will be no different and a performance like the one on Friday is exactly what will be needed again.

"The defeat in the semi-final to Millwall made everyone start to look at us to see how we would react. We have being doing well but we just have to stay focused on the league.

"So far we have responded in the best possible manner. As long as we keep making the top two look over their shoulders then that's all we can do."

Since their FA Cup exit at the hands of Millwall at Old Trafford, Sunderland have picked up six points from their two matches with Wimbledon and United.

McCarthy has made sweeping changes to his starting line-up in both games in a bid to keep everyone fresh.

And at Portman Road this afternoon the Sunderland boss is unlikely to stick by the same team that beat Sheffield United so convincingly.

Goalkeeper Mart Poom and defender George McCartney will not be risked if they have not fully recovered from a dead leg and ankle trouble respectively.

That means another start between the posts for Norwegian Thomas Myhre who kept a clean sheet in his first start of the campaign on Friday.

McCarthy said: "Just because we beat Sheffield United doesn't mean we can go there and turn Ipswich over. If we have any designs on the top two then that starts at Ipswich.

"We have got to keep winning games if we want to catch them. It's as simple as that."

Breen, meanwhile, admitted that he could not believe how he was allowed so much space against the Blades to head in his third goal for Sunderland.

The Republic of Ireland centre-back scored the second goal - in between Tommy Smith and Kevin Kyle strikes - to give the hosts some much-needed breathing space.

And he said: "Sheffield United were strong at set-pieces and we knew we were going to have to work hard for it.

"The marking for my goal was not fantastic and I don't think they had the communications right between their defenders. That second goal secured the win for us."