Craig Gordon, the goalkeeper who has made such an impressive start to his Sunderland career, is targeting victory in his first North East derby on Saturday, when his team also go in search of a first away win of the season.

Sunderland head for the Riverside Stadium and a meeting with Middlesbrough, buoyed by their 2-1 victory over Reading last weekend, which ended a run of four successive defeats in all competitions. It eased them to fourteenth in the Barclays Premier League and rekindled belief that the side who were promoted last season can make an impression in the top flight after spending more than £35 million on players during the summer.

Gordon, whose £9 million move from Heart of Midlothian – a British record fee for a goalkeeper – is confident that there is more to come after a tough run of matches.

“We take a lot of encouragement from the performance and result,” Gordon, 24, said. “Hopefully we can build on the Reading result. We have had some positive performances this season, even though the results have not always gone right – like against Liverpool and Manchester United. We have shown that we can win games at home and we need to do it away from home now. We are all looking forward to the Middlesbrough game.”

Sunderland’s most recent trip to the Riverside provided one of the few bright spots of their previous top-flight campaign, two seasons ago, when goals from Tommy Miller and Julio Arca, who has since joined Middlesbrough, secured a 2-0 win. It was their first league victory of the season and one of only three in total as they were relegated with a Premier League record low of 15 points.

However, there has been massive change on Wearside during the intervening period, with Niall Quinn and his Drumaville consortium having taken over and handed Roy Keane the task of reviving the club’s fortunes.

Their remarkable Coca-Cola Championship campaign last season took them from the foot of the table to the title as they secured an immediate return to the top flight.

Quinn, the chairman, has backed Keane’s vision with massive investment and although defeats by Wigan Athletic, Liverpool and Manchester United, either side of an embarrassing Carling Cup second-round exit at the hands of Luton Town, the League One club, took the edge off a promising opening-day win over Tottenham Hotspur, the victory over Reading has raised spirits again.

Sunderland dominated Steve Cop-pell’s team from the start and early goals from Kenwyne Jones, who was making his home debut, and Ross Wallace effectively secured the points before David Kitson pulled one back for Reading and prompted a nervous finale.

Jones, a £6 million signing from Southampton, made light of his big fee to turn in an excellent display that left his teammates, as well as the supporters, full of praise. Gordon said: “Kenwyne put on a great show. He gives us something different. He’s a big lad and when you have that, you have always got more options.

“He adds a lot to the team and he scored a great goal. I think he will scare teams.”

Jack Pelter, the New Zealand Under-20 captain, signed a one-year contract with the club yesterday after proving his fitness. The centre back initially agreed a month-long deal as Sunderland monitored his ankle injury, but he has been offered a 12-month contract after returning to full fitness. Pelter, who was born in Cumbria, impressed Keane during preseason games against Scunthorpe United and Berwick Rangers.