SUNDERLAND Ladies aren't getting carried away by their unbeaten start to the Women's Championship and remain adamant survival is the immediate aim this season. 

The Ladies have made a brilliant start to their campaign with two wins from three games so far and are the only unbeaten team in the division. 

They beat Coventry United and Blackburn Rovers in the first two games whilst they battled back to a draw away to Crystal Palace nearly a fortnight ago. 

Sunderland were promoted last season to the second tier of women's football and were largely expected to struggle this season but have so far defied the odds as they sit top of the table. 

Manager Melanie Copeland says that despite their strong start to the campaign, they won't be carried away. 

She said: “The aim was to stay in the league and no that aim hasn’t changed.

“We’re only three games in. I’m realistic to think that this is only the beginning and there is lots more games to play. As soon as you start maybe carried away with yourself is the moment you take you’re eye off things. That’s when it could be a slippery slope.

“We keep trying to push each other and trying to maintain the momentum and the high standards. Because we’ve started so well, everyone wants that to continue because it feels good. It feels good to be competitive, it feels good to be the only team unbeaten in the league and that’s something we have got to keep fighting for.

“The players have been level headed. There’ll be no one getting carried away at this early part of the season or they’d be knocked back down a few pegs or two.

“We’re new to the league, we’re still the underdogs in probably every game that we go into. It’s a good feeling, we’re in a good place, it’s a happy camp. They’re just hungry to keep them points on the board and keep their noses ahead."

This weekend, Sunderland host Lewes at the Stadium of Light this weekend as they hope to build on their good start to the season. 

Copeland added: "They are a decent outfit. They are hard working and they've got some keen players that we going to focus on and make sure we can combat them on Sunday. 

"It will certainly be a touogh game. We're expecting them to play in a similar way to what they have done in recent games so we've done our research and we are well prepared for them."