Sunderland captain Corry Evans has admitted that the club will need to make the most of their game in hand over teams above them in the League One standings as they aim to secure a place in the play-offs.
The Black Cats have played 43 games in the third-tier this season while Plymouth Argyle and Wycombe Wanderers, who occupy fifth and sixth place in the table, have both participated in 44 fixtures.
Sunderland will be looking to secure all three points in their showdown with Cambridge United this weekend before hosting Rotherham United at the Stadium of Light in midweek.
The Black Cats are currently level on points with Wycombe and thus will leapfrog the Buckinghamshire-based outfit in the standings if they beat Cambridge and Gareth Ainsworth's side slip up against Sheffield Wednesday.
Sunderland will need to be wary of the threat that Cambridge will pose on Saturday as their opponents have recently secured impressive away victories over Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town.
Ahead of this fixture, Evans has offered an honest assessment on the current situation at Sunderland,
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, the Northern Ireland international said: "We have an extra game on a couple of teams in the play-off places and we have to make the most of the game."
Evans later added: "I think sometimes it's only natural you have a little look [at the league table] but we are just concentrating and taking it one game at a time, and that'll be next Saturday with Cambridge at home and then just go from there."
The Verdict
With three games remaining this season, Sunderland find themselves in a position where they can control their own fate in terms of the race for the play-offs.
By securing maximum points from their clashes with Cambridge, Rotherham and Morecambe, the Black Cats will earn an opportunity to secure promotion to the Championship via a trip to Wembley Stadium.
Evans will need to be firing on all cylinders in these aforementioned fixtures in order to make a difference for Sunderland as he has experienced a mixed campaign to date.
Whereas the midfielder did score in Sunderland's crucial victory over Oxford United earlier this month,a lack of consistency this season has resulted in him averaging a relatively underwhelming WhoScored match rating of 6.59 in the third-tier.