It May Have To Get Worse Before It Gets Better At Sunderland

However, in the circumstances it might not be such a bad game after all. For once, Sunderland will travel in hope not expectation.

Few will believe they can get anything out of the game, which relieves the pressure and allows the team to play with a certain amount of freedom - that's my theory anyway.

If they get a point against Arsenal it will be a bonus, not a setback, as it has been in their last three games and will stretch an unbeaten run to four games.

That is something to cling on to. It might just be a straw at this stage, but who knows where it can lead?

Arsenal are coming into the game after a 2-1 defeat to Porto in Portugal and they lost at the Stadium of Light back in November when they had also played a Champions League game in midweek.

Alright, so that was Sunderland's last league win, but I'm trying to keep things positive in a sort of gallows humour kind of way. What else can you do at a time like this? Cry with laughter or in sadness.

That will be Bruce's attitude and I won't be the least bit surprised if he is particularly upbeat and jovial at this afternoon's press conference.

Either that or unusually controversial as there is nothing like a dramatic headline on top of outspoken comments to deflect attention away from poor results!

It will be an act, I'm sure. People like Bruce don't like losing and they don't like being criticised, but what is the point of allowing that to affect him in public?

He has to try and keep spirits up and the players will be looking for him to set the tone, on the training ground, on the team bus and at the ground before kick off.

In reality, the home game against Fulham is a more significant one in terms of putting points on the board, but stranger things have happened in football than Sunderland getting something from an away game against a team as good as Arsenal's. That's why we love it so much.

Quite what sort of side Bruce will be able to send out because of injuries and suspensions is another matter entirely, but that's the fun of management!

I see Darren Bent has become the first player to publicly back the manager this week, branding criticism of him as "ridiculous" while arguing the dressing room is 100% behind him.

I wouldn't say the criticism has been ridiculous as such. He has made mistakes and they have been pointed out, by me and plenty of others, but it is stupid to talk of replacing him.

Not for the first, or the last time, I will argue managers need time to get things right. Sunderland are not in any immediate danger of relegation and Bruce has shown enough in his career already to indicate he will turn things around eventually.

Yes, it is immensely frustrating. This miserable run of form has made everyone feel precisely that, but let's not take it all out on the manager even though it may still have to get worse before it gets any better this weekend.