O'Neill cautious after crucial victory

Martin O'Neill has warned his Sunderland side that tough times still lie ahead despite a 3-0 win over Reading lifting the Black Cats out of the Premier League dropzone.

O'Neill's side moved up to 15th place in the table by seeing off the Royals, but they are still just a single point above the bottom three, having taken only one point from their previous four league outings.

"We move up a couple of places which is pleasing, but the points are the main thing," O'Neill commented. "We are far from out of trouble though. It is going to be tight for a long time.

"Until we have the requisite number of points we are going to be in a scrap with a lot of teams involved."

Sunderland are now 3/1 to be relegated this season, with Reading 2/9 and rock-bottom QPR 4/9.

However, O'Neill's pleasure at a crucial victory was tempered by more injury problems to contend with.

The Northern Irishman added: "Phil Bardsley has a ligament strain, Adam Johnson has a dead leg and Danny Rose is struggling from a number of knocks. He did well to play on after the first of them.

"On top of that we've got Steven Fletcher, who has been struggling with his ankle and Lee Cattermole is out for a couple of months, so it won't be easy."

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