To build on the "unbeatable" feeling - that's the determination of the Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet. He is materialized from their "great escape", as what they said, from relegation last season when they begin their Barclays Premier League campaign away to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Poyet's side were planted to the bottom of the table, seven points adrift of safety, with six matches left, but a 2-2 draw at title challengers Manchester City and four consecutive wins, that includes Jose Mourinho's first home league defeat as Chelsea manager, ensured the Wearside club finished five points above the drop zone in 14^th, marking only the second club last in the table at Christmas to avoid relegation.

The dilemmas at Sunderland started last season in the opening eight matches of the Barclays Premier League, from which only a single point was victor under Paolo Di Canio. Poyet replaced the Italian in October of 2013 and started a mini-revival before the side then returned to the bottom. But their "miracle", as Poyet called it, took part and this time, the Uruguayan is hoping not to "suffer" as much and that the summer has not eradicated the confidence instilled by that winning run.

"The good time we had stopped because the season finished, but we talk a lot about momentum and there are a few players, the players who have been there at the end of the season that finished playing with the feeling of being unbeatable practically," Poyet told premierleague.com at the Premier League's 2014/15 Season Launch. "I hope that we take it into this season because it is very, very important that we start well in the Premier League. If you do not, what happened to us last season can happen and, like I said in the beginning, I do not want to suffer again."

The former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur player now wants to institute his philosophy of free-flowing, passing football that helped him lead Brighton & Hove Albion to the League One title and Championship play-off finals in consecutive seasons in his previous managerial role and helped Sunderland also reach the final of the Capital One Cup.

He added: "There is nothing better than for me to see my team on the pitch on Saturdays - organised, playing the way I want to play, controlling if we can, knowing who you are playing against - the top teams, and the games you need to win somehow. There are plenty of things we have been working on that will make me very proud."

(Source: Barclays Premier League official website)