FABIO BORINI claims Sunderland have the team spirit and togetherness to set them apart from their rivals in the battle to beat the drop and on the evidence served up at Carrow Road it is hard to disagree.

There have been signs that the Black Cats are better than their league position suggests, even during the run of just one win from their previous 11 matches. An inability to get the job done, however, has heightened relegation concerns.

At Norwich City everything clicked into place to reward the players for sticking together during an extremely difficult season and the aim in the final five matches has to be to repeat it.

Sunderland defended strongly to keep a clean sheet, they counter-attacked with purpose and were clinical in front of goal to seal the points. On top of that, those in red and white shirts played with intensity, chasing the Canaries’ players down and that was epitomised none more so than by skipper Lee Cattermole.

The Stockton-born midfielder played with the heart and desire required to lead the charge against relegation and if he can repeat his Norwich display over the next few weeks then he will be a pivotal factor in Sunderland’s favour.

Neither Norwich nor Newcastle have a Cattermole-type figure leading by example in the middle of the pitch, while he remains instrumental off it in ensuring the squad remains a tight-knit group in times of trouble.

Borini, who was a nuisance throughout against Norwich as well as scoring the first from the spot, said: “We have a great group of lads, we are all team-mates and we look after each other and that helps. This was one of those days.

“This game could be key over the next few games and we managed to work together to keep a clean sheet, which is always precious at this stage of the season. We got the win.

“Our changing room is outstanding and is one of the best I have ever been in. I can’t speak for what it is like at Newcastle or Norwich but everyone is friends in our squad.

“There are no selfish players and we have shown that when we work together we can play football. We have to make sure we build on this now and keep Sunderland in the Premier League.”

When Gary O’Neil, the former Middlesbrough midfielder captaining Norwich these days, dissected the game he highlighted how Sam Allardyce once told him “80 per cent of teams who take the lead don’t lose in the Premier League.”

Sunderland have struggled to edge ahead in matches all season; even when they have they have struggled to hold on to their advantage, like when they had to settle for a point against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Newcastle.

But they had no such problems on Saturday after Borini had dispatched his penalty inside John Ruddy’s bottom right corner in the 41st minute having been fouled in the box when Andre Wisdom left his studs on his ankle.

Jermain Defoe grabbed his 16th goal of the season – his tenth in 14 away fixtures – seven minutes after half-time when he slid in at the back post to convert Borini’s cross following some excellent work by Jan Kirchhoff.

Norwich rallied after that, with Nathan Redmond giving them an extra edge in the final third, but they found Sunderland in no mood to cave in. Vito Mannone made a number of excellent saves, Cattermole made three goalline clearances and Sunderland defended strongly as a whole.

With Duncan Watmore on the pitch for the second half for the ineffective Wahbi Khazri they also had an extra outlet down the left. He had already made a number of runs on the break, as well as a couple of wrong decisions, when he added the third in stoppage-time.

Seb Larsson played him in behind the defence and Watmore, playing his first game since recovering from ankle ligament damage sustained in February, squeezed a finish beyond Ruddy.

Borini said: “We have goals in me and Jermain, we know that. We have experience of a high level of football as well. When we have the chance to play football we can score against anybody.”

The tone was set in the opening minutes when more than 20 men, made up of backroom staff and players, got involved in a touchline row after DeAndre Yedlin had been shoved into an advertising hoarding by Robbie Brady. Allardyce pushed striker Cameron Jerome at one stage.

That only seemed to help drive on Sunderland, backed by 3,000 supporters in a stadium where every home fan was given a yellow clacker, and they recorded a first league win at Carrow Road since March 1985.

Now Sunderland have to find a way of winning back-to-back games for only the second time this season when Arsenal, still in need of points to secure Champions League football, travel to the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

That will be the game in hand Sunderland have on Norwich – still a point ahead - because Alex Neil’s side do not play next weekend.

Borini, part of the memorable survival charge two years ago when they stunned Chelsea and Manchester United in the run-in, said: “It will be difficult because it is Arsenal.

“They still believe they can win the league and if they can’t win the league they still need the points to get a Champions League spot.

“Surely they will come to our place to win, but we need to win as well. That is what we need. Last year we stayed up by getting a zero-zero draw at Arsenal. So we can do it. Every game is important now.

“This has not been the best situation to be in again, but we are experienced from it. We have been in it for the last four or five years. We know we have the quality to get out of it, we know we have the players to do it. This performance has proved it.”