Jack Rodwell is plotting Sunderland’s journey up the Premier League table following a positive start to 2017.
The midfielder returned to the starting XI during Monday’s dramatic draw against Liverpool and put in an impressive display alongside Didier Ndong in the centre of midfield.
And he's likely to play a prominent role during the coming weeks, with Ndong representing Gabon at the Africa Cup of Nations and Lee Cattermole, Jan Kirchhoff and Paddy McNair unavailable due to injury.
Rodwell, 25, has played a part in thrilling finales in each of the past two seasons, and he’s backing the Black Cats to once again make it count when it matters.
“We know we have to get more points and we need to keep going,” Rodwell told the Chronicle. “We knew we had to bounce back and give a good performance [against Liverpool] and I think we did that.
“Obviously the start we made to the season we had to recover and put behind us, but we have gone on a good run at home lately and we need to keep doing it and get up the board.”
He added: “We are obviously in a fight until the end, we are in a fight, but we have to keep going and showing what we are doing.
“We need to pick it up in the second half of the season like we have in the last few seasons.”
