Source: Northern_Echo
Gordon insists Black Cats must do better
GOALKEEPER Craig Gordon believes Sunderland have made a solid start to their Premier League campaign but insists Steve Bruce's side must do better against teams similar to themselves. The Black Cats have already held Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool to draws this season, as well as beating big-spending Manchester City. But they have dropped points to the likes of West Brom, Wigan and Birmingham. With Sam Allardyce's Blackburn next up for Bruce's men, Gordon believes that results against similar sides will be just as important as getting results against the top teams. We've done the usual Sunderland thing this season, doing well against the big teams, especially at home, the former Hearts man said. What we need to add is doing well consistently against the teams who are in and around us. The Liverpool result was very good, a really good performance away from home and that is encouraging because it was our away form which let us down last season. Everybody worked hard and that's what you have to do if you're going to get anything from games like that. There is a good atmosphere around the place. We've had a hard start to the season if you look at the games we have played, but we've got ourselves into a pretty good position. Gordon has missed the start of the season after undergoing surgery on his left elbow, which he injured in training in July but is now ready to make a comeback when the side travel to Ewood Park a week on Monday. While the Blacks Cats have enjoyed playing the bigger teams, their performances have come at a cost after they were knocked out of the Carling Cup at home to struggling West Ham United. Gordon admits the squad were disappointed to exit the competition so early but believes the side have made a very good start to the season considering the teams they have played. The performances have been of a good level with the exception of the Carling Cup, which was probably to do with how hard we'd worked to come back against Arsenal a few days earlier. That probably accounted for that performance against West Ham and we are disappointed not to have had a good run in that competition. But generally we've done well to accumulate as many points as we have done when you consider the games we have played and it has been a solid start. We've given ourselves a platform to build from.