Sunderland midfielder Kieran Richardson believes his team can cause an upset when they take on Liverpool.
Winger wants top ten finish to season after revival
Sunderland midfielder Kieran Richardson believes his team are capable of causing an upset when they take on Liverpool at the weekend.
The Black Cats have enjoyed a mini-revival of late, going five games unbeaten, but their away record makes for grim reading.
With a trip to top-four chasing Liverpool awaiting on Sunday, Richardson's team will face a difficult task when they step out onto the Anfield pitch.
Sunderland's only away win came on the opening day of the season at Bolton and a barren 14 game run without victory saw a promising start fade away during the middle of the campaign.
But Steve Bruce's men have been able to turn their fortunes around somewhat, easing their relegation worries by beating in-form Birmingham and picking up useful points against UEFA Champions League hopefuls Manchester City and Aston Villa.
And the results have given Richardson, 25, renewed belief they can return to the North East with points in the bag.
He told the
Daily Express: "We have another big game on Sunday against a big club and I'm sure we can get something.
"Liverpool are still a top side. It doesn't really concern us what problems they might have, we need to concentrate on our performance. If we get it right as we did in drawing at Aston Villa, then we have a chance.
"We matched one of the best sides in the league. Beating Bolton and Birmingham has made a big difference. It has relieved the pressure and you can see we really believe in ourselves.
"Drawing at Villa shouldn't be that big a shock. We could've won it."
Richardson's season has been hampered by injury but he is now back fit and in Bruce's plans as they target a strong finish in the final seven matches.
Sunderland are more or less guaranteed Premier League safety following their unbeaten run and lie 13th going into their next test against Rafa Benitez's side.
The former Manchester United winger says he is happy to be finally back in the first team fold, and added that he wants to help his team kick on by securing a top ten place.
He continued: "I'm just glad to be back playing again. Injuries have held me back and I had hoped to bring a lot more to the team this season.
"We can get up that table but I don't think we should get carried away with ourselves and start setting big targets. If we can get into the top half, we'll be happy."
