CARL ROBINSON hailed Sunderland's 'magnificent' fans and urged them to act as a 12th man in the club's bid for automatic promotion.

Robinson admitted he didn't realise how passionate the Black Cats' fans were in his initial three-month spell on Wearside last season, but says he now fully understands what the club means to its supporters.

The Wales international insists Sunderland's fanatical fans have played a pivotal part in the club's climb to the summit of the Coca Cola Championship this term. If any further evidence was required, the vociferous support in their 2-0 victory at Burnley on Friday night provided it.

"The fans are magnificent away from home," said Robinson. "We produced two decent results away prior to the Brighton game, but at Turf Moor they were fantastic and they can help by being the extra man in the run-in.

"I thought the Burnley fans were quite quiet to be honest. But what helped us was that we had a few thousand there and at times like that it turns things around.

"When you hear the way the fans were on Friday it gives you a bit of a boost because you feel as if you're not in a cauldron of hate, like we were at Millwall. They are horrible fans down there and the atmosphere is not very nice

"But the away fans are crucial to us. We have got some good away games coming up now and they turn it into a home game for us, because we take four and five thousand away with us on every trip. There aren't many teams who take that many fans away and it's not just an hour down the road, it's more like five, six and seven. You have to take your hat off to them."

After trailing Wigan and Ipswich for much of the season, Sunderland fans were beginning to wonder whether they would ever break into the top two.

Robinson admitted the thought had crossed his mind on more than one occasion.

"It is good to be in the top two but there is a long way to go yet and 30 points to play for, though it's a good position to be in," said Robinson.

"People say it is in our own hands, and it is, but we've seen over the space of two weeks how football turns. We were six points behind Ipswich, which has been written off, and then three games later we're three points ahead of them. So there's going to be a few twists and turns and we just have to make sure we pick up as many points as we can."

It goes without saying that April is going to be a make or break month for the Black Cats, with matches against Ipswich, Wigan, West Ham and QPR.

Robinson, however, insisted the club's next three games are just as important and believes the Sunderland faithful have an even bigger part to play.

"It is important the fans stick with us for the remaining ten games of the season," said the 28-year-old midfielder.

"We know they're going to be tight and a lot of nerves will be jangling and finger nails bitten. But when it's a tight game they are crucial to us, because the players hear them and will run that extra yard and make that extra tackle.

"All we ask is if we're playing well for them to get behind us, but on the other hand if we don't play very well then they're entitled to their views, and that is what they expressed at Brighton.

"I'm the first to admit we didn't play very well.

"You have to put your hand up and say you've had a bad day at the office. But we've bounced back well and showed a bit of character to win three on the trot."

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