Chris Maguire says confidence in Sunderland's dressing room is high, which they proved with their response to the defeat at Portsmouth.
The defeat at Fratton Park was Sunderland's first in ten games, and given their terrible run prior to Christmas there was concern it could derail the turnaround they had made to get themselves back into contention.
But Phil Parkinson's side have responded with two wins from two since the loss on the south coast, with Maguire netting the winner in a tight contest with promotion rivals Ipswich, before the Black Cats' commanding midweek win over Rochdale.
And Maguire believes the manner of their bounceback after Portsmouth proves the strength of character in the dressing room now, after it was called into question during their dreadful run pre-Christmas.
Maguire told the matchday programme: "We ensured we bounced back from a blip against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, which is another step in the right direction.
"There is a real confidence within the dressing room and it's going to take far more than a one-off defeat to effect that, but now it's up to us to go on another winning run so that we continue to climb the table."
Maguire's form has been central to Sunderland's turnaround.
Having been placed on a personal training scheme by Parkinson in order to lose weight, his performances have been far more consistent and his goals and assists have rocketed Sunderland up the League One table. Currently in fifth with games in hand, Maguire has helped Sunderland back into promotion contention after they dropped as low as 15th on Boxing Day.
His form even earned him a nomination for League One Player of the Month for January.
On his own form, he added: "I've had a good start to 2020 and I want to keep that going.
"I've surpassed my goals tally from last season, but I want to keep helping the team by scoring and creating more."
