Cattermole: Hard work is paying off

Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole believes the club are bearing the fruits of their new-found discipline. The Black Cats continued their recent form on Saturday as they sent Aston Villa packing from the Stadium of Light thanks to Richard Dunne's first-half own goal.After a suspension-hit start to the season, Cattermole has become a feature of the Sunderland engine room that are unbeaten in their last seven games and have not conceded in their last three.And the combative midfielder feels the Wearsiders, who are currently seventh in the table, are getting their rewards for hard work on the pitch and on the training ground."We showed the same kind of attitude which we have done over the last six or so games [on Saturday]," Cattermole, who admits he is feeling fitter with every passing game, told the club's official website."We're doing the hard work - matching our runners, doing our jobs and being really disciplined. We had a bit of luck with the goal but we should have taken three points at Blackburn the Monday before with the chances we missed."It's seven games unbeaten now which is a great achievement. That and three straight clean sheets show just how hard everyone is working. We are showing what we can do on the training pitch during the week and then taking that into games."But Cattermole has warned it's vital his team don't rest on their laurels with the Tyne-Wear derby with Newcastle United before a packed November featuring five games including trips to Tottenham and Chelsea."We must take each game as it comes and not get carried away," Cattermole added. "It's vital we keep producing the same performances every week; we've set our standards high and we need to maintain them."We are creating chances. When we played the 4-5-1/4-3-3 last year we weren't used to playing that shape and it was seen as defensive. This year we can attack teams from that shape."

Source: Team_Talk