By ROB STEWART

SUNDERLAND midfielder Lee Cattermole has insisted the Black Cats will win their battle against relegation – but only if they keep repeating their ‘Miracle of Bristanbul’ heroics.

Chris Coleman’s side remain on course for the ignominy back-to-back relegations after an epic 3-3 draw at Bristol City but their stunning fight-back left Cattermole convinced they have what it takes to climb the Championship table to safety.

Sunderland looked set for a drubbing as they trailed by three goals at half-time before mounting a revival that travelling fans described as ‘Bristanbul’ due to its parallels with Liverpool’s epic Champions League final win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

“It was a magnificent comeback but now we need to make sure this is a turning point and we must not let this opportunity slip,” Cattermole said. “We must find a way of repeating that second-half performance on a regular basis because we’re going to need that to get out of this position.

“It’s got to come in longer periods of games because for the first half we were nowhere near where we needed it to be.

“It’s going to be tough but we must put that display on again and really grab hold of games. It can only be a positive what happens.”

Cattermole, who will be 30 next month, rolled back the years at Ashton Gate and was praised by Coleman for “leading the charge” with his “aggression, driving on the team and dragging players around.”

The former Middlesbrough player attributed the turnaround in fortune to Coleman’s half-time team-talk.

“That was the longest 15 minutes I’ve spent in a dressing room at half-time, it was very quiet, very downbeat,” Cattermole added. “The manager just asked us to give each other something we could carry in to the rest of the season and be men about the position we were in.

“No one said too much but I thought we showed a real pair.

“We really, really dug deep and when we got that first goal I really believed we’d get another one and another one and after that you think, ‘Let’s go and win the game’.”