SUNDERLAND’S winless squad is urged to make the most of a seven-match run to December which will go a long way in determining the club's Premier League future.

The Black Cats, who are disputing claims that they have considered former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira as a replacement for Dick Advocaat, are preparing for their home fixture with West Ham United this Saturday.

The visit of the Hammers - who have won their first three away games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City this season – will be a difficult fixture to end the wait for a first win of the campaign.

But it is hoped from within the Sunderland dressing room that they can record a positive result to give everyone a lift during an international break which will be crucial for the club’s future.

Sunderland are already four points adrift of safety after suffering a fifth defeat from seven league games at Manchester United on Saturday, with Advocaat still trying to engineer a suitable system to accommodate the new signings.

A two-week break from domestic action after the visit of West Ham could give Advocaat some extra breathing space and time to work on certain players’ fitness levels ahead of an important run of games.

After travelling to West Brom on October 17, Sunderland face Newcastle (h), Everton (a), Southampton (h), Crystal Palace (a) and Stoke (h) before starting December with a trip to Arsenal.

A failure to improved their form during that spell would increase the doom and gloom around the Stadium of Light, where fans are wondering when the first victory will come from.

Lee Cattermole, the Sunderland midfielder set for a greater role in the side again after losing his place earlier in the campaign, has admitted the next seven matches have been discussed and the players are well aware of the significance in recording better results before Christmas.

“We have to put the defeat at Manchester United to be bed straight away and this Saturday against West Ham is a really big game for us now,” said Cattermole. “That comes before the international break and then after that we have five or six games to turn our season around. We know what we need to do.

“Those games coming up are all big. As a squad, everyone, the staff, everybody, we have to stay focused during the international break, stay really focused and make sure we improve as a group and team.

“We can use that period to get ready for that next stretch of games because they will be massive for us. We can’t go any further adrift of teams because we have been here before. I think there are positives we can take in to that run though.”

With Sunderland struggling to prevent the opposition from scoring so far this season, the influence of Cattermole in front of the back four could be crucial in the weeks ahead if he can recapture his form of last season.

A change of system and personnel earlier in the campaign contributed to his weaker performances, but he is confident he can inspire the team after his recall to the team.

Cattermole added: “What I need to be doing, I need to do the basics well and that is when I am at my best.”

Sunderland’s failure to win any of their opening seven league games has increased talk of Advocaat departing before the end of the contract which is due to expire next summer. Vieira, working with Manchester City’s Under-21s, has been linked along with two more mentioned in the summer, Sam Allardyce and Burnley’s Sean Dyche.