Black Cats will defend as a team – Campbell

Sep 5 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

FRAIZER Campbell has urged supporters to go easy on Sunderland’s under-fire defence, insisting that the Black Cats will shoulder the blame collectively when they suffer knock-backs this season.

After some uncertainty against Blackburn and Stoke, Sunderland’s back four have been under intense scrutiny since the start of the season – a situation only increased by Steve Bruce attempting a complete overhaul of his defence during the summer transfer window.

Danny Collins left and central defensive partner Anton Ferdinand nearly followed as Bruce sought to ring the changes in an area that was clearly cause for concern. But Campbell, himself a new addition to the cause, has revealed a new unity in the squad by saying that everyone must accept responsibility for the defeat at Stoke.

That is a refreshing new outlook at a club where the dressing room was fractured last season and there was too many – long since departed – individuals in the squad.

“The Stoke game was a failure for the whole team, not just individuals. It’s no good blaming individual players, we need to look at the game and decide what we could have done better,” he said.

“I’m sure we’ll sort it out over the international break and come back ready to beat Hull.

“I know that the manager has obviously brought in defenders. But I have confidence in all of my team-mates, we work well in training and I know that they are good players.

“It is good that we’ve managed to get some new lads in as well, and I’m sure they will be part of things. Those players might take a bit of time to gel but hopefully not too long.” Not that Campbell is losing too much sleep over the loss against Stoke, which was an uncharacteristically below-par display by Bruce’s new-look side.

A swashbuckling victory over Bolton and a battling win against Blackburn mitigate the loss at the Britannia, and Campbell feels the new-look team will continue to improve. “We’ve started all right, to be fair. Losing the last game was a bit annoying but we’ve done OK,” he said.

“There is room for improvement but it’s not all about how you start. We need to continue doing well, Hull is an important game.”