Sam Allardyce has told Sunderland to prepare for a nail-biting end to the season as they chase a 38-point survival target.
A late midweek equaliser against Crystal Palace took Allardyce's side out of the bottom three, but they remain level on 24 points with the two teams immediately below.
The manager believes five wins from the 10 games remaining will be enough to stay in the Premier League, but Sunderland have won just six in 28.
"It would be our best run of the season, putting together five wins in 10 games," Allardyce said: "It could be four wins, three draws, however we can get to 38 points, which is certainly, I think, going to be enough this year.
"I hope we can achieve it. If we can go on a miraculous run and achieve more, that would make life even more pleasurable for us coming towards the last few games.
"But I certainly think we are all going to be getting ready to bite our nails again. I think it is going to go right to the wire, so we will need to be biting our nails.
"I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like that is going to be the case and if that's the case, if we can hold our nerve, I certainly think we have got the talent to get out of trouble."
Norwich and Newcastle are the other teams on 24 points, eight clear of Aston Villa and six behind 16th-placed Swansea.
Allardyce said: "We are in a position now where we are fighting against the other three. It's looking like it's going to be any three out of that four and we have got to make sure that we are at the top of that little league table at the end of the season.
"Whether we can drag anybody else in... it means one of us will have to go on a three or four-game winning streak to even claw those boys back to us, so it looks like any one out of the four of us is going to be the one which survives."