UNITED STATES captain Claudio Reyna, two-goal match-winning hero of Sunderland's crucial game against Leicester City, last night urged his teammates to keep their nerve in the battle for Premiership survival.

Reyna believes 41 points would guarantee safety, and while it will be tough going in front of a record crowd against Championship-chasing Liverpool this afternoon he feels that the Wearsiders can rise to the occasion.

"We are not in the position we would like to be, but it happens after a few slip-ups," he said.

"It is very tight from top to bottom and if you draw a few games you should win you can slip down the table.

"A few teams like Middlesbrough and Charlton have managed to put a string of good results together and are now in a comfortable League position, but all the teams in our situation haven't done that so that's where you find yourself.

"The Premiership is a really competitive league and that's the situation we are in right now - but there is no reason to panic.

"Against Liverpool we just need to concentrate - we are at home and I think we play quite well at home and are difficult to beat."

Reyna is likely to be in the United States' starting line-up in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland next week, but he rates this afternoon's game as having far greater importance.

He said: "First and foremost it is a much more important game against Liverpool.

"The friendly against Ireland will be the last chance for a lot of players to impress before the World Cup and there will be a lot of places up for grabs so it should be a good match."

Reyna picked out Stephen Gerrard and Jari Litmanen as players who have caught his eye in the Liverpool team.

But he added: "They have quality players throughout - they are really solid and have a lot of good players.

"The likes of Emile Heskey and Michael Owen are also top strikers.

"They have a deep, strong squad with a lot of experience - it doesn't really matter who they put out they will have a good, capable team."

Reyna, however, takes heart from Sunderland's last two performances.

He said: "Against Leicester the most important thing was to get the three points at home to give ourselves some breathing space and start chasing back.

"Against Leeds the result was disappointing because I think we played well and it was one of the better away games we've had.

"We were disappointed but we can take a lot out of it - we had a few good chances in the second half to level up and they came down the field and scored.

"But the overall performance was encouraging and we can draw a lot from that game. After the game, even though we lost, we felt pretty good about our performance.

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