Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson looking up after Stoke win

Sebastian Larsson has warned Sunderland they cannot afford to rest on their laurels after moving out of the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Sweden international played his part in the 2-0 victory over Stoke at the Stadium of Light, which came just five days after a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace and moved the Black Cats up to 17th place in the table.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce was quick to insist after the final whistle that the job is far from done and that view is shared inside the dressing room.

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Larsson, a veteran of Sunderland's escapes from the drop in each of the last three seasons, said: "That's what it's like down there. Unfortunately, we know it all too well.

"But two wins is massive and of course it pushes you up and it sort of sends the message that you are the team on the way up, and we need to capitalise on that and keep going because we know how quickly it can change.

"We are not going to get ahead of ourselves by any means, but we knew these two wins were massive."

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Sunderland have now taken nine points from the 18 they have contested under Allardyce and the players' belief is gradually returning according to Larsson.

"I don't think the confidence is anywhere near as high as it can be, but obviously this week has really helped, there's no doubt about that," Larsson said.

"When you feel a bit more secure, you don't feel like you are giving chances away constantly and worrying about conceding a goal, that really helps and that's probably the one thing we have worked the most on.

"We are trying to get back to being a bit more solid and then trying to win the game, which we have managed to do, six points in six days, which is great for us."