Sunderland jinx strikes again

AT Manchester City we used to say Everton were our bogey team, but Sunderland have definitely overtaken The Toffees on that front.

We suffered our fourth consecutive 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light on Sunday. It is our jinx ground without a doubt.

I think it is fair to say that we weren't great in the first half, but in the second period we dominated possession without finding the goals to turn the match around.

The Black Cats defended very well, and new manager Gus Poyet deserves a lot of credit for the way he organised his side. It was similar to our loss at Cardiff in August, where we found ourselves up against a brick wall and could not break through.

We also came up against three ex-Manchester United players in Phil Bardsley, John O'Shea and Wes Brown who were probably pumped up for this match. Bardsley got the goal and Brown was named man-of-the-match.

That said, the whole Sunderland side showed plenty of motivation due to the fact they are fighting for points and were up against one of the most high-profile teams in the division.

Results being what they were at the weekend, we are still only six points off the top of the Barclays Premier League table so it is not all doom and gloom.

Teams at the top are beating each other or slipping up.

It is down to us to come back stronger after the international break and get a victory at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

It will be a difficult game but our home form is excellent.

Even though it is never nice to go into the internationals on the back of a poor result, the break may have come at a decent time for us because several first team players are absent due to injury.

The likes of Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Fernandinho and Stevan Jovetic have a couple of weeks to recover without missing any club fixtures.