SWEDISH stopper Joachim Bjorklund is confident Sunderland can book their play-off spot when Crewe visit the Stadium of Light next weekend.

Saturday's goalless draw with Wigan means the Black Cats still need five points to be certain of entering the end of season lottery but, with a number of the leading contenders still to face each other, one more win would leave Mick McCarthy's side in an almost uncatchable position.

Bjorklund has spent most of this season on the sidelines after being transfer-listed following Sunderland's dramatic fall from grace last year. But the 33-year-old centre-half produced an eye-catching performance to keep the scoresheet blank after being recalled to the starting line-up at Wigan's JJB Stadium.

After missing out on automatic promotion and the FA Cup final, consecutive defeats to Ipswich, West Brom and Crystal Palace had raised the nightmare possibility of the Black Cats achieving an unwanted treble by also dropping out of the play-off equation at the death.

But Bjorklund is confident Saturday's disciplined defensive showing has gone a long way towards ensuring that will not happen. "It was an important point for us given the fact that we'd just had three losses in a row," said the 78-time Swedish international. "At least we've kept Wigan the same number of points behind us.

"Hopefully we can win our next home game against Crewe and that should be enough to take us into the play-offs.

"We want to make sure we get into the play-offs as quickly as we can and then, once we're mathematically sure of that, we'll try to finish in third place.

"The disappointment of last weekend is behind us now. We were very down after the West Brom game, but you've got no time to sit down and sulk."

With the Latics also in the middle of the play-off pack, Sunderland could find themselves back at the JJB Stadium for a rather more important game in less than a month's time.

That prospect is not overly appealing after two tight draws in which it has been impossible to split the sides already this season. But Bjorklund is confident that Sunderland have what it takes to handle whoever they are paired against once the regular campaign draws to a close.

"I think we fancy ourselves against any side," he said. "If we perform on the day we've got a good chance no matter who we're playing, but if we don't we're going to struggle.

"This is a very competitive division. It's obviously not as good as the Premiership or the top leagues in Italy and Spain, but we all know that."

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