DANISH international goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who played the roles of villain and hero for Sunderland in the space of five days, believes that the Wearsiders have not yet clicked into gear.

A mistake by Sorensen at Craven Cottage last Wednesday put Premiership newcomers Fulham on the road to victory, but he more than made amends with a breath-taking stoppage-time save in the derby game at Newcastle on Sunday.

"After three games it is still early doors but four points is a reasonable return - it's not perfect but it's reasonable," he said yesterday. "We still need to pick our game up and there is a lot of time to do that - we have a two week break to work at it.

"Hopefully we will come back in our next game against Blackburn and win that one."

He added: "I'm sure we can play better than we have done in our opening three games.

"It is a matter of being confident on the ball and try to keep your nerve, especially in games like the derby where if you give the ball away it will come straight back at you and it helps take pressure off the defence.

"We will learn from the Newcastle game and there is no need to worry. We don't want to peak too early this season - we want to peak at the right time."

Sorensen, who will always be remembered in Tyne-Wear derby folklore for his crucial penalty save against Alan Shearer to give Sunderland a 2-1 victory last season, brought a gasp of disbelief from Geordie fans on Sunday when he pushed away a 25-yard shot from Nikos Dabizas to keep the score at 1-1.

The great Dane feels that last season's save, which ensured Sunderland of their second consecutive Premiership victory at St James' Park, was the more important.

He said: "Obviously we won last season and being 2-1 up it was the more crucial save.

"This time the shot swerved in the air and that's why it nearly caught me out - I just got my hand to it. It was just nice to get away with a point - I think we would have settled for that before the game and at least I have an unbeaten record against Newcastle United, which I am happy about.

"There's always a great atmosphere in these games and that's what football is all about.''