The 36-year-old former Manchester United star helped spearhead the Black Cats' stunning charge towards the Coca-Cola Championship title last season as they headed back into the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt.

They did so full of optimism and determined not simply to make up the numbers in the top flight.

However, for all their good intentions and the investment of around £36million last summer, Roy Keane's men find themselves inside the drop zone with just 15 games to play.

Although their situation is far from dire, no-one at the Stadium of Light is under any illusion as to the task which lies ahead, and Yorke for one is adamant that relegation is not an option.

He said: "I just hope the lads realise it doesn't get much better than this.

"We all experienced last year and it was great. But you don't really want to be playing there - you don't really want to be going to Colchester.

"No disrespect to those teams, but you want to be going to Tottenham, Manchester United and those teams.

"The lads have got an opportunity to put it right. We have got 15 games to make sure we get it right, or else.

"They know what the consequences are, and even at my age - I am at the end of my career - and I don't want to go back there.

"These guys have got their futures ahead of them - and I am sure the manager doesn't want to go back there, I know that for a fact.

"That's the reality - we have got 15 games to try to put it right, and we all have to be in it to make sure we do that."

Sunderland have no game this weekend having fallen to Wigan at the first FA Cup hurdle, but return to league action at home to Birmingham on Tuesday.

The Black Cats are separated from Alex McLeish's 16th-placed side only by goal difference with both having collected 20 points from 23 games.

With Derby seemingly doomed and Fulham now five points adrift of safety, the other candidates will hope only one berth needs to be filled with the pressure mounting by the week.

However Yorke, who swapped Sydney for Wearside after accepting Keane's call to arms, does not want to experience the culture shock of life in the second tier again.

He said: "When I came here (to play in the Championship), it was a total culture shock.

"The reality when you play in the Championship after you have played at the top end, is that it's a different ball game.

"I had never experienced it and it is something totally different.

"But it was a good experience in the sense that we won the league and got promotion straight away to the Premier League, so I did not have to do too many years there.

"It was pretty much in and out, so that was a great experience.

"But this is where the real deal is - this is where everyone wants to be.

"Even having been in the Premier League for lots of years, I still have the desire to play here. Even at 36 years of age, I thoroughly enjoy it.

"I've never been relegated and I don't really want it on my CV."