DICK ADVOCAAT is confident Sunderland will remain in the Premier League this season, and highlighted yesterday’s record-breaking derby win over Newcastle United as a key step on the road to survival.

Jermain Defoe’s sensational first-half volley secured a fifth successive derby win over the Magpies for the first time in Sunderland’s history, and reinforced the Black Cats’ stranglehold over their regional rivals.

Just as importantly, it moved the Wearsiders three points clear of the relegation zone at the end of a weekend that saw relegation rivals Burnley, QPR and Leicester City all avoid defeat.

With seven games remaining, Sunderland are in a much better position than at the same stage of last season, and while it is too early to be taking anything for granted, the confidence gained from yesterday’s victory should be a key factor over the next few weeks.

“I’ve always said we will survive, but we had to win today and we did that,” said Advocaat, who became the third successive Sunderland boss to record a victory over Newcastle in their second game at the club.

“There was a lot of pressure on the team, but I had a good feeling from the moment we arrived here. It was the first game after the Aston Villa game, but the way the fans treated us from the moment we came on the bus was something special. The players felt that as well and responded to it.

“The league table looks better, although the most important thing is May 24. It will look better if we’re here then, but this definitely helps.”

Sunderland were the better side throughout, with their new attacking formation troubling a bitterly disappointing Newcastle team from the earliest moments.

Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham unsettled the Magpies back four all afternoon, but it still took a moment of magic from Defoe to secure only the Black Cats’ third home win of the season.

Picking up the ball from Fletcher’s knock-down, the former England international dispatched a magnificent left-footed volley into the right-hand corner of the net.

“Before the game, I said to Fletcher, ‘It’s time to do something for Sunderland now, you’ve done it for Scotland’,” said Advocaat. “I said to Defoe, ‘Do I have to say anything to you or not?’ He said, ‘I know what I have to do’.

“It was a fantastic goal, although it is unfair only to mention Defoe. I am really pleased with how the team played as a unit, with the fans behind us. But that (the goal) was a special moment.”

Defoe had gone six matches without a goal, but while Fletcher and Wickham both missed golden second-half opportunities to make the game safe, the 32-year-old clinically dispatched the one real opportunity that came his way.

It was a brilliant instinctive finish from the striker, whose January move from MLS side Toronto FC might well prove to be Gus Poyet’s most significant act during his time at the Stadium of Light.

“It’s one of my best goals,” said Defoe. “And with my left foot as well. Although even a tap in would be massive in a game like this.

“As the ball was dropping, I was just concentrating on the strike. During the week I’ve done a lot of shooting, and as soon as it left my foot, I knew it was in.

“It was an unbelievable feeling when it went in. I was very emotional for some reason, as everyone wanted the three points so badly.”

Defoe has experienced countless North London derbies with Tottenham, and has also represented England on some of the biggest stages in the world.

However, having been told to expect a unique occasion by his skipper, Lee Cattermole, he was not disappointed by the passion and fervour of his first North-East derby outing.

“The lads have been telling me what today would be like, with the atmosphere, and it was amazing,” he said. “I tried to blank it out as if you think about the pressure too much, you get tense and can’t perform.

“We’ve beaten them for a fifth time in a row, and what a feeling. Hopefully, the fans can be happy and we can kick on.”