Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini believes that Regis le Bris' side could still be in with a chance of finishing in the European places, despite sitting 12th in the table.
"A lot of teams are fighting and playing each other in this little middle group and no-one wants to give an inch so if we did win the last two games, it could make a huge difference," he told BBC Radio Newcastle.
There could be up to nine Premier League clubs in Europe next season – six in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.
"It's still there for us as a carrot but it is a little bit disappointing. When we look back in a few months' time at the way the season went, we have just faded away a little bit towards the end," added Gabbiadini.
The Black Cats have won 12, drawn 12 and lost 12 of their 36 matches this term since returning to the Premier League for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
"We've got this small squad that the manager likes to use. Once it goes deeper than that, sometimes we have got issues. He hasn't got three or four strikers to choose from who have played in the Premier League before and got experience," said Gabbiadini.
"They are the bits that we have got to improve on. We haven't got a Callum Wilson or a Harvey Barnes to come off the bench. If we had players like that, they would probably be starting – that's the difference between us and an established Premier League side.
"We've established a great foothold in the Premier League and made it look easy staying up this season, but the next step is to score a few more goals."
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