Mid-season slump is all too familiar to Turner

Mar 5 2010 by James Hunter, The Journal

While Sunderland are still looking for their first win of 2010, they have lost just one of their last five games and have three consecutive home games coming up, starting with Bolton on Tuesday.

And with the rash of injuries and suspensions which threw the Black Cats’ season into disarray finally easing, Turner believes Sunderland will get back on track.

“We must take positives from only losing one of the last five,” he said.

“We felt we could have won a couple of the games we drew.

“Playing at home you can sense the crowd are desperate to have something to cheer about and we want to give them a win. But we’ve struggled with suspensions and injuries over the last couple of months. All teams get them but we seem to have been hit the hardest.

“You have to deal with it, but players come in and we’ve not been able to keep a settled side. We need a settled team for the rest of the season to get us going – it’s important to have a stable side.”

Sunderland’s Premier League game at Aston Villa has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 24, with kick-off at 7.45pm. The game was originally due to be played this weekend, but was postponed as a result of Villa’s FA Cup run, which sees them take on Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.

Tickets purchased for the original date will be valid for the rearranged game.