SUNDERLAND boss Martin OâNeill last night told his players: Weâre still in a scrap for Premier League survival. The resurgent Black Cats have picked up seven points from four games under new boss OâNeill and were only denied a Boxing Day win over Everton by a controversial penalty decision by World Cup referee Howard Webb. But with table-topping Manchester City at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, a trip to Wigan just 48 hours later and Chelsea away on the horizon, the Sunderland boss is under no illusions about the size of the task confronting him. âWe are still in a dogfight, we really are,â he said. âMy hopes for Sunderland in the new year are just to get out of bother â thatâs the most pressing issue for us.â OâNeillâs arrival on Wearside has lifted the spirits of fans disillusioned with predecessor Steve Bruce and fuelled expectations of a far better second half to the campaign. But although results have picked up, he admits the prospect of relegation is still a cause for concern. âItâs in the back of my mind,â he added. âMaybe Iâm bringing it to the forefront. âIâve been delighted with the points weâve accumulated but I wouldnât want anybody thinking ahead of themselves.â The Irishman has major injury problems for tomorrowâs game â all in defence â with Titus Bramble, Phil Bardsley and Michael Turner ruled out and Kieran Richardson a doubt having missed training all week due to illness. Matt Kilgallon, out of favour for the past 18 months, has been drafted into the squad and is a contender for the right-back slot, with John OâShea set to move inside to partner Wes Brown. OâNeill knows that even with a fully fit squad to choose from, beating Roberto Manciniâs City side is a tall order. He added: âThe injuries are a major blow because we havenât got the biggest squad to choose from. âWeâll just have to make do but will approach Sundayâs game in the same manner as previous ones. We want to go in positive and get the crowd enthused. âThe confidence is good at the moment, but until you win a substantial number of games I always feel it can be a bit brittle. âWe have a long-term aim here but our short-term goal is to have level points from games played. âSo itâs about hanging in there and then the time will come to try and shift on. âBut, right now, weâre not out of the woods by any means.â Sunderland are weighing up a January transfer swoop for attacking midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. The Nigeria star, 20, who is available on a free, is also a target for Liverpool. But his advisors fear he would face a similar tough battle for first-team football at Anfield as he has done at PSV, so *Sunderland would be favourites.
Evening or morning, Bill? I like this interview very much. Our position is a lot nicer than it was three weeks ago, sure, but that's not saying much is it? We had such a bad start that it'll take a lot more than four decent games to pull us out properly. We're in this for the long haul now. Not so sure I believe that bit about Ibrahim - I would have thought midfield is precisely where we're not short, and especially not if you add Riveros to what's already here. Still, if he's on a free, and it's right that Gardener is home-sick, who knows? He might sell Gardener to Wolves and take this lad on to replace him. We'll see, eh? Good night, Bill. Off to bed.
