Source: PA
Bruce confident of beating drop
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is backing his players to drag themselves out of relegation trouble.
The Black Cats have slipped to within six points of the Barclays premier League drop zone after a dreadful run of eight games without a win. Indeed, their recent results have left them at the foot of the form guide with current bottom three Wigan, Wolves and West Ham all having fared significantly better.
Bruce's men face all three sides, as well as 16th-placed Birmingham, who they visit on Saturday, during their six-game run-in to the end of the season, and while he knows none of them will be push-overs, he is confident the Wearsiders can rediscover their touch after taxing run of fixtures.
He said: "It's easier on paper - but you don't win football matches on paper.
"I knew we had a particularly difficult run in February and March - we had the top six and it doesn't come any more difficult than that when you have got Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, all of them to play in successive weeks with a depleted squad.
"However, we have got six games left, we have got on paper a fantastic-looking run-in. It's up to us. I know we are capable of winning two or three of those. If we win two or three of those games, we could finish in the top 10, which was always our aim."
