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Cape Town - Following Sunderland's relegation escape, defender Lamine Kone said his side should never have been in the position they found themselves in.
The Ivorian defender was last night's unlikely hero, scoring two goals in a 3-0 victory over Everton which confirmed their Premier League status for another year.
Kone's goals were his first for the club, having joined in the summer from Lorient, and they happened to seal the fate of Norwich City and Sunderland's derby rivals Newcastle United, who were both relegated to the Championship.
"Definitely the club should be higher up than it is and I think we've proven that with some of the performances we've put in during the last few games," Kone told the Shields Gazette.
"We've been solid, strong and I think our home form has been a lot better as well. We certainly shouldn't be struggling down in 17th and struggling to stay up.
"I wouldn't say we knew we were going to stay up after Norwich (last month's win) but that was a massive step because they could have gone seven points ahead of us.
"But for me, the match that really sealed it was Chelsea after we were trailing 2-1 and then came back to win it 3-2. From that point on, I knew that nothing would stop us against Everton."
