Players’ fight with themselves just as vital as tackling Lions

Sunderland return to action after the break with a home fixture against Millwall with every single Sunderland fan desperate for the long winless home run to end.

Until that magical day does come, each home game will be overshadowed by that unbelievable statistic.

So, the quicker it is ended the better and only then can this cloud that is hanging over everybody be removed and Sunderland can try and salvage something from this disastrous season.

Millwall, like every other club that visits Wearside, will be well aware of Sunderland’s problems on home soil and be more than happy to expose that weakness.

Sunderland’s opponents don’t usually have to do a great deal to take the lead at the Stadium of Light.

It is more often than not a case of Sunderland’s nerves and a lack of self belief taking over, the opposition keep it tight and waiting for that inevitable mistake Sunderland are always capable of - usually from a corner or defensive blunder.

So, it is Sunderland’s fight with themselves that is just as important as their battle with Millwall.

Can they overcome their lack of confidence and stop giving ridiculous goals away that are morale-sapping?

Not just for the players but also the fans who watch week after week in disbelief as big, basic errors put Sunderland behind and that just piles the pressure on even more.

At the time of writing, there is still no sign of a new manager unfortunately, but I am hoping someone is installed before Saturday as the players look as though they are desperate for strong leadership and at least the fans will have something to discuss and rally around whether they agree with the eventual appointment or not.

Any new boss would take Millwall at home as his first game as the Lions are down at the bottom.

It is more than winnable and could get a new era off to a flying start, while at the same time burying the home hoodoo.

In Sunderland’s last outing at Middlesbrough, there wasn’t a great deal between the two teams and Boro, I am convinced, will end up in the top six. However, it it is the struggling teams at home that Sunderland have got to be far more ruthless against, so new manager or not, it is up to the players to deliver.

As Sunderland already share the record for winless home games, anything but victory on Saturday will mean we have that unwanted home record all to ourselves.

And that surely has to motivate the players massively to finally get three points as nobody would want to be part of a record like that.