MICK McCarthy last night admitted he had been aware of the clamour for change as Sunderland lost their first five games of the season, but claimed his wealth of experience had prevented him from making a bad situation worse.

Saddled with the memory of his side's previous top-flight campaign - the Black Cats lost their final nine games of the season after McCarthy replaced Howard Wilkinson in March 2003 - the former Republic of Ireland boss was subjected to a host of sorry statistics as the club's winless run extended into the second month of this season.

Other managers might well have hit the panic button, desperately changing both personnel and tactics in an attempt to hit upon a magic formula.

But, while McCarthy switched to a five-man midfield for the trips to both Liverpool and Chelsea, he did not abandon the players he had plumped for at the start of the season and refused to alter his side's energetic style of play.

The last fortnight has seen him reaping the rewards, with his 'If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it' policy contributing to Sunderland's rise from the bottom three.

"It takes experience to stay calm when everything's flying around you and people on the outside are starting to panic," explained McCarthy, who took charge of Millwall for more than 200 games before entering international management in 1996.

"When that's happening, the worst thing you can do is start to panic as well.

"People do start to worry and, if the results aren't coming, it's easy to start changing things just for change's sake.

"It's easy to start seeing things that aren't really there but, thankfully, we were able to avoid falling into that trap.

"When you start worrying about things that aren't really a problem, that quickly gets transferred to the players and then things really can start getting out of hand."

McCarthy's resolve might have wavered more had his side been played off the park during the opening month of the season.

But, while Charlton were deserved winners on Wearside on the opening day, successive defeats to Liverpool, Manchester City and Wigan provided more than enough evidence of Sunderland's ability to compete at the highest level.

"I don't think the level of performance has dipped from the first game to the last and that's probably been the most pleasing thing this season," added McCarthy.

"I hope people have seen that and, to be honest, I think they have. The response we got from the fans last weekend seemed to suggest that they realise that has been the case.

"There's been nothing wrong with the way we've been playing all season. If you're playing badly and getting beaten, then you really have got something to worry about. That's never been the case here.

"We've been playing well and that's meant I've been able to stay positive in terms of my team selection. We went to Middlesbrough, played 4-4-2 and attacked them. We were able to do that because of the way we'd been playing in the weeks before."

Last month's win at the Riverside was followed by another positive showing against West Ham last weekend, with the resultant 1-1 draw lifting Sunderland out of the relegation zone.

They are hardly out of the woods - forthcoming games against Manchester United and Arsenal underline just how tough a task they still face - but McCarthy insists he would not swap this season's struggles for last term's waltz to the Championship title.

"We're the 17th best team in the country," he said. "Would we have swapped 17th in the Premiership at this stage of last season for where we actually were, mid-table in the Championship? Of course we would.

"I spoke to Neil Warnock four games ago. We hadn't got a point and Sheffield United were top of the league but, straight away, he said 'I'd swap you'.

"We shouldn't forget where we've come from. There are some good sides currently fighting like mad to try to get to where we are now. They're trying to get the home games with Manchester United - we have to keep reminding ourselves of that."

* Sunderland centre-half Gary Breen has been forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of this Saturday's World Cup qualifier with Cyprus.

The 31-year-old, who has not played for his country for almost a year, suffered a calf strain in last weekend's 1-1 draw with West Ham.

Jon Stead and Ben Alnwick are also sidelined.

Stead, who missed last weekend's game with a hip injury, has withdrawn from the England Under-21 squad ahead of tomorrow night's game with Austria, while Alnwick's ankle problem has forced him out of England Under-19 action.

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