MICHAEL GRAY last night warned Sunderland to pick themselves up from a dreadful run of results or relegation will become reality.

The club skipper was substituted during the Black Cats' defeat to Manchester City on Monday - his side's fourth successive loss.

And Gray is convinced Sunderland must lift spirits within the camp quickly if they are to stand any chance of climbing away from the relegation dog-fight.

"We have got to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get out on to the pitch and start to win games - full stop," said the 28-year-old, who hopes to keep his place at home to Liverpool this Sunday.

"We have got a tough game next, but at the minute that little bit of luck is hard to find. That's what we are trying to find. We are looking for that little bit of spark.

"The quicker it happens the better. We are all in this together."

Ironically, Monday's 3-0 loss came exactly two years after a solitary Gray strike clinched Sunderland a Wear-Tees derby win over Boro.

The win pushed the Wearsiders up into fifth place - a position seemingly miles away from where the 19th-placed strugglers currently find themselves.

But Gray admits the similarities in confidence currently sweeping through the squad is more like the 1996-97 days, when Sunderland dropped into the Nationwide First Division.

"We are finding ourselves in a situation that nobody likes and the table does not lie," said Gray, who has made over 350 appearances for his hometown club.

"We don't want to stay in this position. We know we are good enough and we have got a tremendous fan base that deserves to be in the Premiership and in the top half of the table.

"We are devastated with the Man City result, the players stayed behind in the dressing room for a good hour afterwards speaking about things because we want to put it right."

But Gray believes Sunderland's current predicament can only be overcome if the coaching staff and the playing staff pull together.

He said: "It's not on the manager's toes and it's not on Steve Cotterill's toes, it's up to all of us to put it right as soon as we can.

"We have got a team full of internationals, we have got a manager who has won the League title and we have got a young coach who is very enthusiastic and wants to do well.

"The quicker we bond together the better. I think we have bonded fantastically well so far."

Meanwhile, Sunderland defender Jody Craddock's ankle injury may not keep him out for the full four weeks.

Craddock had scans on Monday night after sustaining the injury during his pre-match warm-up. And Wilkinson said: "We will need to re-assess his injury again in 48 hours after swelling has gone down.

"The early signs indicate that the injury may not be as bad as we feared and could take less than the usual 3-4 weeks to heal."

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