Mackems to spike Guns?

LEE JOHNSON will take Sunderland to Arsenal on Tuesday, having channelled his inner Chris Whitty.

The emotional pendulum at the Stadium of Light has taken some dramatic swings in recent weeks.

Johnson (below) – rich in management-speak and coaching buzzwords – says he is “flattening the waves”, a phrase our chief medical officer Professor Whitty likes to use.

The ups and downs – mainly downs – of life at Sunderland, currently in their fourth season in League One, have seen off owners, players and managers during a troubled six years.

Seven weeks ago, after a nearperfect winning start to the season, the Mackems suddenly lost four games in six with just two draws. Questions were being asked.

Had Johnson lost the dressing room or was an injury crisis the cause of the results slump?

They slipped off the play-off pace. More staff quit behind the scenes and there were rumours of discord. The ownership structure around Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has been questioned and his ‘real’ spending power made the subject of debate, too.

But results have turned again, a downward wave flattened, and the Black Cats haven’t lost in the league since November 2.

Their consecutive relegations and play-off flops, bidding to get back to the Championship, have been stressful and divisive.

But a return to the second tier and even derby games against relegationthreatened Newcastle could be on the cards for next season.

A trip to Arsenal – and a test against the Premier League elite – is a game to be savoured by their long-suffering fans.

It is a free hit for a place in a Carabao Cup semi-final and a well-deserved night out, having put so much into the cup competitions in past seasons, despite league progress being the priority.

Could Sunderland hang in against a young Gunners squad, take the game to penalties and sneak it?