David Moyes admitted Sunderland's increasingly improbable Premier League survival mission has fallen behind schedule after Saturday's goalless draw against Burnley.
The hosts' failure to capitalise on a series of chances left them seven points off safety and will force Moyes to recalculate his side's route to another great escape during the international break.
Moyes said: "It's not enough - it would have been down as one of the wins in my book, so now we have to turn one of the draws I had down into a win.
"The players know exactly how much it means and they know we have to win. We emphasised how big the game was and they didn't lose - but three points was really what we needed."
Billy Jones and Sebastian Larsson both missed good chances for the Black Cats before Burnley keeper Tom Heaton stepped up to deny Fabio Borini three minutes from full-time.
But Moyes knows it could have been even worse for his side after Burnley had the better of the opening period with Ashley Barnes prodding a glorious chance wide - before Sam Vokes brought a save out of Jordan Pickford late on.
Sunderland's eight-game run-in features a number of eminently winnable games but with Manchester United and Chelsea still among them, the Scot knows time is running short.
And he hopes a potential last throw of the dice could come with the prospective return of a number of injured players, in particular Lee Cattermole and Victor Anichebe.
Moyes added: "I think the one we're really looking to see is if we can get Victor back to give us a different look. There are no guarantees but he is certainly doing a bit more running and getting closer.
"I think the main thing is to get them back but are they going to be match-fit and up to speed? I hope we do get them back and they're both fit and ready to play."
Vokes's late miss ensured Burnley's winless away record would continue but Clarets boss Sean Dyche took positives from another solid team performance which dragged them a further point towards safety.
Saturday marked Burnley's fourth consecutive game on the road and Dyche admitted he is relishing the prospect of returning home to Turf Moor to face Tottenham in two weeks' time.
Dyche said: "When the Liverpool game got reversed we knew it was going to be a tough run - a lot has been made of it but we have come out of it with two points.
"We've got another two points on the table and now we have five out of nine at home. It doesn't guarantee anything but our form statistically shows we are a hard team to beat so we are looking forward to it."
Source: PA
