Darren Bent has warned his Sunderland team-mates they must start to pick up points quickly – starting against Stoke (Sunderlad 21/20 draw 12/5 Stoke 5/2 Premier League match betting) on Monday – to avoid being sucked deeper into a Premier League relegation scrap.

An alarming run of form of just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions – against non-league Barrow in the FA Cup – has seen the Black Cats slip to just three points above third-from-bottom Burnley.

World Cup hopeful Bent (9/2 First and Last Goalscorer) has scored 15 goals this season and knows consecutive home clashes with the Potters and Wigan at the weekend can raise confidence at the Stadium of Light.

He said: “These next two games are very important. There was a period not so long ago that if we had won one or two games, we would have been in the top four.

“It can change so quickly. We have let our standards slip and we have fallen off. We are ready to get back to that.”

With just five points separating the relegation-threatened Clarets and Monday’s opponents Stoke in 12th, Bent knows how important wins can be at such a critical stage of the season.

He added: “We have got two massive games now and hopefully we can take full points from those two games.

“Fortunes can change so quickly. It has gone from good to bad, but it can easily go back to good again.”

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