During the last couple of days, most of my time has been spent thinking about Sunday’s derby. I’ve been feeling nervous and anxious, hoping that we get something out of the game, but then my perspective changed as I realised something — it should be Newcastle who are hoping to get a result out of us.
Our team is different. Different from previous Sunderland teams and different from other Premier League teams.
We’re resilient, hardworking, cohesive and most importantly, full of brilliant footballers.
I’m by no means saying the derby will be a walk in the park, as they’re a good team and both the players and fans will be right up for the game.
But so are we.
We’ve made the Stadium of Light a fortress, one in which no opponent has defeated us so far during this Premier League season. We also have a terrific set of players who understand the importance of both this game and the season as a whole.
As the newly-promoted team, it would be easy to see us as the underdog against the Champions League-competing side, but I no longer see it that way.
They have weaknesses which I believe we can exploit and a brilliant atmosphere at the Stadium of Light combined with our aggression, belief and confidence could cause them some serious problems. By starting strongly, getting at them and defending resiliently, we’ll give ourselves a great chance of getting a good result.
All the abuse we’ve had to put up with from them during the last eight years has been building up. Our double relegation followed by heartbreaking final defeats and their triumph over us in the FA Cup in 2024 has given them enough ammunition to last for a long time, but since that fateful day at Wembley, everything has changed.
They’re scared. Regardless of how composed or unbothered they appear to be, it’s clear.
Our brilliant start to the season and excellent squad of players has intimidated them, and I can almost guarantee they were hoping to see Noah Sadiki or Granit Xhaka pick up bookings against Manchester City. They’re worried that it’s no longer going to be an “easy six points” and this chance has been eight years in the making, so let’s get after them and take it.
Regardless of the result on Sunday, the club is prospering and the city itself is responding correspondingly.
We’re in one of the best positions the club has ever been. We’ve had a magnificent season so far and I believe we can build on it this Sunday.
