'Sunderland have to focus on themselves'
Dan Neil scored his second goal of the season in Sunderland's 3-2 win at Middlesbrough
- Published
Sunderland will never get caught again worrying about what their promotion rivals are doing, says captain Dan Neil.
The Black Cats 3-2 win at Middlesbrough on Monday night leaves them fourth in the Championship table, three points outside the automatic promotion places.
Their victory came after immediate rivals Leeds and Sheffield United won at the weekend while Burnley drew.
"It's important we take it game by game. The only people who are going to stop us getting to where we want to is ourselves, and that's by becoming complacent and focusing on other teams too much," Neil told BBC Radio Newcastle.
"Last week was a prime example of that - we saw everyone else drop points, and playing bottom of the league Plymouth, thinking we could just turn up and win, and we said afterwards in this league you can't do that."
Sunderland's next games are at home to Watford, who have lost their past three matches, and Luton, who are currently second from bottom.
"There are teams fighting for their lives; there are teams fighting to get back in the play-off push. We learnt a harsh lesson last week and I'm sure it won't happen again," added Neil.
