The Black Cats have endured a tough Christmas, with Manchester United and Blackpool seeing them off in the space of three days. Back-to-back 2-0 defeats have prevented the club from cementing their standing among the European chasers, with Bolton having edged ahead of them into sixth. Club captain Cattermole remains upbeat, though, and is convinced that Steve Bruce's side will soon be back to winning ways. He refuses to accept that a setback against Blackpool on Tuesday, which ended the club's unbeaten home record, will rock confidence, with the Black Cats having dominated that contest for long periods. Cattermole said in the Daily Express: "The performance against Blackpool was brilliant. We were unlucky, creating more chances than in any other game this season. We were disappointed but on any other day you would have seen us win it 3-0 or 4-0. "It was a weird game, strange for all of us. It wasn't really our day but we have to move on. "Overall, 2010 at home for Sunderland has been fantastic and we've lost only two games in the whole of the year. "Now we have to keep going because it's a long season. We've got 27 points in the first half of the season. If we do that again, we'll have had a very good year." Should Sunderland be able to maintain their high standards, a top-six finish is not out of the question, with Steve Bruce having assembled a squad capable of mixing it with England's elite. Cattermole added: "The gaffer has built a team over 18 months and we're looking strong. We have Blackburn next and we have to quickly turn it around, prepare right and make sure we put in another good performance. "We lost back-to-back games for the first time this season but we're not going to look at it in a bad way and it's a good thing that we have Blackburn so soon to get it out of our system. "This period is tough for all clubs but you have to keep going, stay focused and use your squad. "We've done very well in the first half of the season and no-one's talking about getting into Europe or anything like that but you can't put it out of the question."
