ANTON Ferdinand is convinced Sunderland will still finish the season on a high despite a fifth defeat in six games against Liverpool, and warned the last thing the Black Cats will do is feel sorry for themselves.

Although the Wearsiders took a valiant point from their trip to Arsenal two weeks earlier, their form has slumped markedly as the debilitating effects of a packed treatment room have started to hit.

The bad luck with injuries continued against Liverpool with Sulley Muntari, Kieran Richardson and Danny Welbeck limping off on Sunday, but Ferdinand has denied they are looking for these sorts of excuses to explain their poor run of results.

He said: “We can’t look at that luck going against us, we’ve got to make sure we don’t start feeling sorry for ourselves and looking at injuries and things that happened against Liverpool.

“We have to look at ourselves, make sure that we bounce back and start playing the way we know we can. It’s always disappointing when you’re playing at home, especially at an arena like this, with our fans, not to beat people.

“That shows how far the club has come, the fact we were playing one of the top teams in the country and everyone is upset that we’ve lost.

“I think we’ve got a good enough squad to deal with these injuries and now it’s about people that fill in for the players out to work hard and grab their shirt with two hands.

“It is about character and we’ve got a lot of that in this dressing room, that’s one thing you can’t fault with us. Character helps you bounce back from losses, the lads aren’t worried and we’re looking forward to the next game.