COSTEL PANTILIMON thinks Sunderland have shown they have the ability to stay in the Premier League, despite starting the season with three defeats from five matches.

It has not been the opening five weeks the Black Cats had wanted after persuading Dick Advocaat to stay on for a further 12 months and deals for transfer targets did not go as smoothly as expected.

The slow progress on the recruitment front has led to speculation about the future of sporting director Lee Congerton, with claims last night that Borussia Monchengladbach are attempting to persuade him to leave the Stadium of Light after 19 months.

He is already believed to have rejected chances to return to Germany, where he held a similar role at Hamburg, with Schalke and Hannover.

Monchengladbach, due to face Manchester City in the Champions League but struggling in the Bundesliga, are more hopeful of tempting him back after Sunderland's frustrations.

Ironically the link comes at a time when Sunderland actually showed real signs of improvement against Tottenham on Sunday until Ryan Mason struck a late winner to seal victory.

It meant Sunderland dropped back down to the foot of the table but there was a greater level of optimism after an encouraging opening hour from a new-look team sent out by Advocaat.

A promising first half could easily have seen Sunderland take the lead but they were left frustrated by some poor finishing, although Jermain Defoe did prove that he deserves a run as a lone striker in the new system.

And Pantilimon said: “We have good players, especially up front with Jermain, Jeremain Lens, Fabio Borini and other players. We look solid and we look in good shape but we have to be like this for the rest of the season.

“It's good for the team that we've brought some players in. We're trying to improve and to work hard. We were expecting Spurs to be tough opponents but I would say we played well.

“Sometimes it can happen like that where you get hit on the counter-attack and you can concede a goal, especially in the last ten minutes. That's football. But we had good chances and I'm very happy about this team.

“I think we're going to have the results in future. The important thing now is just to turn performances like this into results.”

With an attacking quartet made up of Defoe leading the line and Borini, Ola Toivonen and Lens behind him, Sunderland looked more dangerous than they have this season.

The improvements are likely to continue the more they play together as they develop a greater understanding and greater fitness levels. Borini and Toivonen were two of the players to tire significantly after the restart, which could be expected given their lack of first team football.

“It's true that we lost the game and we don't forget that but the best thing in this kind of situation is to think positively. If we can play exactly like we did against Spurs in our future games, we should be OK,” said Pantilimon.

“We missed good chances but I think we played well against Spurs. Sometimes it's like this but the best thing about that game was that we improved our game, we started fighting and started working like a proper team.

“We played some great football in my opinion and that bodes well for the next games. I think we've been solid defensively all season but when you play open football you can get caught by teams with great pace, it can happen.

“You can have one-on-one situations in the box. But I'm happy that we played well as a team and it's good for the future.”

Toivonen and Borini were not the only players short of match fitness, with Jordi Gomez handed a first start since April after recovering from a broken knee cap.

Gomez slotted in well alongside Yann M’Vila in the heart of the defence even though it meant Lee Cattermole, Jack Rodwell and Seb Larsson being left out. The Spaniard was happy to be thrown straight back in, even though he was short of fitness and is eyeing up a second start against Bournemouth this Saturday.

He said: “No, I didn’t expect to play in the starting eleven, but I’ve been training hard to be ready. The manager asked me to play and I did my best. I haven’t had a pre-season with my team-mates, I had to do it on my own.

“But I’ve been training in the gym, doing the running and then playing with the Under-21s. And now I’m back in the team, which is good. It’s been quite hard to do it on my own.

“I got injured at the end of last season and then all you can do is get back as soon as possible. I’ve obviously missed a few games but I’m just thinking about now and I’m happy to be back playing.”