SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce insists it is time to stop the peaks and troughs which have been the pattern of the club’s form of late to find an acceptable level of consistency.

The Black Cats entertain Roy Hodgson’s West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light today eager to show their last home outing – a 4-0 win over Stoke – was no flash in the pan.

A poor defeat at Norwich earlier this week appeared to typify Sunderland’s campaign so far as being a case of one step forward and two steps back.

Consistency does seem to be the holy grail which is avoiding Sunderland’s grasp of late with a good result such as Stoke being cancelled out by what happened at Carrow Road.

The annoying thing for both Bruce and Sunderland is the fact the club have shown they are capable of going on a run to propel them higher up the league.

Their form from the start of last season until the injury crisis kicked in after January had some believing that European qualification was on the cards. While that did not happen, it did show maintaining a run of form over a prolonged period could be done. How to get back to that form and stick to it is a problem which is vexing Bruce, but he is determined to put things back on track.

He said: “The one thing I have to try to do here, which I have managed to do in the past everywhere else, is to get a level of consistency rather than constant ups and downs, which is the way it has been since I have been at the club.

“We have had marvellous highs for four or five months and then a downward spiral and we cannot just keep it on an even keel. That is the biggest challenge I have.

“There always seems to be turmoil here – whether it is a big player wanting to leave or whatever – and that has been the big problem since January, finding a level of consistency which we are striving for, which you need in the Premier League.

“I have done it before at Wigan and Birmingham, but it is probably something in the history of the club, probably, which I am up against.”