Bottom-placed Sunderland will have a fighting chance of Premier League survival if they can win five of their remaining 11 games but history suggests it may not be enough, the Black Cats captain John O'Shea has said.
Sunderland, seven points adrift of safety, still have to play five of the six teams immediately above them - Middlesbrough, Hull City, Swansea City, Leicester City and Bournemouth.
"If we win those five games, as the manager says, we'll give ourselves a chance," O'Shea told British media. "It might not be enough. You could win six, seven, it might not be enough.
"I was watching the Premier League Years a few days ago and remember some of the teams, the runs they went on to try and stay in it and were so unlucky.
"Ultimately, as we know ourselves from the last few years, if we do our own job, that takes care of it."
Sunderland host 12th-placed Burnley on Saturday.
