The Black Cats have won only two of their opening ten games of the new campaign, form which has left Steve Bruce's side languishing dangerously above the relegation zone.

A things stand, the Wearsiders are one point above the bottom three and failure to get a result against Fulham at the Stadium of Light on Saturday could leave Bruce's men in an extremely worrying position.

But Larsson, who arrived on Wearside as a free agent in the summer having left Birmingham City, believes they have played well enough to warrant a bigger points total.

After a nightmare opening five minutes against West Brom, the Black Cats came from behind to draw 2-2 but opportunities to win the game late on went begging.

An improvement on last season's top-ten finish was the number one target for Sunderland at the start of the season and despite their early season stutter, Larsson insists that is still their main aim.

"The table doesn't reflect the performances so far this season," the 26-year-old.

"We feel we should have a lot more points but it is now about turning those moments when we're playing well into points and also into wins. This is the time to do that.

"We probably haven't got the wins we wanted but we're still only a few points from eighth, everything is that tight.

"The aims are the same as the ones that I was given when I first signed.

What is Europe this year? Lets be honest, top six is extremely difficult to get there and stay there.

"But the aim is top half - or to better last season if possible. That's what we said we want to do, that's progression.

"We need to progress from last year, if we can do that then we've got to be happy."

With Connor Wickham missing through a knee injury, the Black Cats will be relying on Nicklas Bendtner, Ji Dong-Won and Stephane Sessegnon to contribute goals.

Danish international Bendtner has impressed since arriving from Arsenal on loan and Larsson believes the striker has already made a difference to the squad, both on and off the pitch.

He said: "Nicklas has done terifically well for us.

"He is a big character, he's always been the same.

"I've known him for six or seven years and he's always been the same.

He's a terrific guy and from the first day he walked into the dressing room he was one of the lads. He was joking with everyone, he gets on with everyone.

"I think the whole squad gets on with him, everyone likes him - he's that kind of guy. He settled in perfectly.

"On the pitch he is a fantastic striker. People have already had the chance to see what he can do for us.

"He's got huge potential. He's got a couple of goals and some assists too - he's already made a huge difference for us."