BRAZILIAN defender Emerson Thome believes Sunderland can rekindle their faltering European dream against his old club, Chelsea, next week.

The Wearsiders have taken only three points from their last six Premiership games, drifting from second to fifth place, and now face stiff opposition in their next two fixtures against in-form rivals, Chelsea and Leeds, who also have Continental ambitions.

But, with nine games remaining, Thome is confident Sunderland can end a dismal two months without a win and unfurl their European banner with an eye-catching finish to the season.

The £4.5m club record buy said: "We must now look forward and push towards the last nine games. It's going to be difficult, everyone knows that, but we are confident.

"If we can get good results in our next two games things will start to look good again.

"We have to believe in ourselves and if we can come out of the next two games with a win and a draw it would set us up for a good finish to the season."

Thome feels Sunderland have carried no luck in their recent games, despite whole-hearted effort right through the side.

He said: "The team has played quite well recently without getting too many points.

"We were unlucky not to win against Aston Villa and we did well against Manchester United and Liverpool.

"We've worked hard, defended well, cleared situations and have had chances to score, but sometimes it just doesn't go your way."

Thome is looking forward to returning to Stamford Bridge, but he knows it will be an extremely tough test against a Chelsea side which won in midweek at West Ham to climb into eighth place, three points behind the Wearsiders with a game in hand and far better goal difference.

Leeds, with their tails up after qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, are also in the pack snapping at Sunderland's heels, one point adrift.

Thome said: "The next two games look very difficult against Chelsea and Leeds - they are both looking for European places and Chelsea won this week, which was a bad result for us.

"But our attitude on the pitch is right and if it stays the same we've got a chance - there can be no complaints on that front."

Thome is only sorry that Sunderland haven't got a game today to try to build on their better performance against Aston Villa, when they were robbed of victory through a stoppgae-time winner by a bad refereeing decision.

l Sunderland manager Peter Reid is expected to re-open transfer talks with Inter Bratislava next week on his return from a scouting mission to Argentina about the proposed £2m transfer of Slovakian Player of the Year Szilard Nemeth.

The indications are that the 22-year-old striker is likely to sign in the summer once contract terms are thrashed out, with Inter Bratislava seeking a sell-on clause.

But other clubs have expressed an interest in Nemeth, who has scored seven goals in 21 international appearances and has netted 16 times in 19 games for his club.