Sunderland 0, Stoke City 0

Feb 2 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

SUNDERLAND scratched and clawed in a bid to dig themselves out of a dark hole against Stoke City – but still the Black Cats are stuck in a rut as they failed to collect all three points.

Steve Bruce’s side did most of the pressing against a Stoke side which has now gone five away games without a goal, yet most of the Wearsiders’ football was disjointed as the lack of confidence in the players played havoc with their decision-making and composure.

The result was an uninspiring point which stretches their winless run in the Premier League to ten games and ensures the visit of Bruce’s former employers Wigan Athletic on Saturday will be an uncomfortable one for the Sunderland manager. Bruce described the game as a defining one in his first season as Sunderland manager, and there was no question he was under intense pressure for the first time since he swapped Wigan for the Stadium of Light in the summer.

Sadly, the performance and the result have done little to improve things.

Sunderland are, to put it bluntly, in miserable form and, although they had a blatant penalty kick turned down when former Middlesbrough defender Robert Huth handled in the area, they have won just two out of 16 games – one against non-league Barrow – as the hope and expectancy of the autumn has been replaced with the winter blues.

The significance of this match was echoed on the team sheet. Although there had been serious doubts about the fitness of both Michael Turner and Lee Cattermole before the game, Bruce named both in the starting line-up and only Kieran Richardson and Anton Ferdinand were missing through injury.