Wes Brown has insisted the men who got Sunderland into their early-season difficulties can get them out again after a welcome resurgence.
Brown clinched a second Barclays Premier League victory in three games for new manager Martin O'Neill with an 89th-minute winner at QPR on Wednesday evening to move the Black Cats three points clear of the drop zone.
The triumphs over Blackburn and QPR either side of a narrow defeat at Tottenham have doubled the club's tally for the season and swiftly reached O'Neill's initial target of establishing a one-point-per-game ratio with 17 matches played.
They will now seek to build upon that as Everton and then leaders Manchester City head for the Stadium of Light over the holiday period.
While that might prove challenging, Brown is confident they have what it will take.
He said: "We have always had it. The players haven't changed, we have always had it in the team. We managed to get that break on Wednesday night, and hopefully we can carry on from there and have a good Christmas period.
"If you look at Everton at the moment, you could probably say they are not playing to their best ability as well, so we can go into the game confident.
"We are at home - that's all we can do. We got three points at QPR, which is the main reason we went there. If we had scraped three points, I still would have been happy with a 1-0, 5-4.
"It doesn't really matter, we got the three points, and now we can take it into the next game."
Brown will perhaps not be aware of the club's recent record against Everton.
Sunderland have not beaten the Toffees in 14 attempts in all competitions and the Merseysiders have won 11 of those encounters, 10 of them in the Barclays Premier League.
O'Neill has been made aware of that statistic and is treating it as just another challenge.
Asked how one team can have a stranglehold over another for an extended period, he said: "There can be a very obvious reason - some team can be just miles better than the other one over a period of time, or there might have been games here where Sunderland could have got a result and didn't do.
"Then you start worrying about statistics and when the whole thing is going to change.
"But it is up to us to try to do something about that. I can't account for recent history but that is something I am hoping won't be in the players' minds as we take the field."
Striker Connor Wickham is unlikely to make the clash despite receiving better news of his injured knee.
Everton manager David Moyes expects O'Neill to make Sunderland a force to be reckoned with in quick time.
He said: "I think everybody respects Martin as a manager. I don't think anyone has a bad word to say about him. They like his interviews, how he speaks.
"He is at a really big club, it is a big job. It is a big club that has tended to spend well in the market and has done a good job supporting managers financially.
"If they give that to Martin they will be a force in the next year or so."
O'Neill has a strong reputation in the game after impressive spells with Leicester, Celtic and Aston Villa.
He had been out of the game since leaving Villa in August 2010 but, from initial impressions, Moyes believes that break probably did him good.
Moyes, who will have been at the Goodison Park helm for 10 years come next March, said: "I think once you have been out of it and you come back, you are full of it.
"No matter what job you are in, if somebody says you can have a break and you don't need to work, when you come back it is great, I am sure.
"It has suited Martin. I am not saying it would suit me or anyone else.
"Martin is certainly doing what he has done with most clubs he has been at."
Everton have a good record against Sunderland having not lost in their 13 previous meetings, winning 10 of them.
But Moyes sees them as a danger, particularly with free-kick specialists such as Sebastian Larsson in their side.
Moyes said: "I watched the game against Blackburn when Martin took over and they were a threat.
"They then scored on Wednesday from a couple of set-pieces. They have got wonderful delivery from Kieran Richardson and Seb Larsson.
"We need to try to make sure we are on the ball and not give too many away."
Everton are without Seamus Coleman (groin) while Jack Rodwell and Conor McAleny (both hamstring) are doubts.
Source: PA
Source: PA