CLUB CAPTAIN Niall Quinn last night appealed to his Sunderland teammates: "Let's show we still believe in ourselves and make sure we go forward."

The Republic of Ireland striker believes that the visit of West Ham to the Stadium of Light provides the ideal opportunity for the Wearsiders to bounce back after the 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Sunderland, he feels, have not produced the consistency which was rewarded with top-seven finishes in the Premiership over the last two seasons.

He said: "This is a very important game for us. We have shown in the last couple of home games what we can do but we've gone away the week after and left a lot of hard work behind us.

"To make sure we make progress this is the type of game we need to win."

Quinn feels it is difficult to come up with a reason for the side's fluctuating form.

He said: "We say we should do the same things but it doesn't work like that for some reason.

"We raised our game against Arsenal and Leeds, then at Leicester we only produced 50 per cent of our game - we were a little better at Liverpool but still not what we want.

"I just felt the victory over Leeds would get us going but it is very difficult for us.

"Hopefully something will happen which will give us a pattern which we can stick to and which will give us some away results.

"That's what we did this time last year - we got some away wins under our belt. Now we just have to try to do the stuff at home and get the confidence to play better away."

He added: "What's important to us is what's done on the training ground. We have to get the tempo and application we had against Leeds, which was first class. Let's start again against West Ham."

Quinn believes the fervour and support of the home fans can play an important part in this afternoon's game.

He said: "The Leeds game showed they got right behind us and the adrenalin was there, not just on the pitch but in the stands. You could feel the whole thing was just the way it's meant to be.

"That's why you are so disappointed to let them down when things fall flat the week after.

"We have to get back to that and make the fans feel happy again.

"It is a lovely feeling when you are out there on top of teams and the crowd is really up for it.

"When they are like that they are worth a goal to you because it becomes very difficult for the away team."

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