GRABBAN: KEEP THE FAITH
Grabban: Cats must keep the faith to turn around season
Lewis Grabban has urged his Sunderland team-mates to keep believing as they bid to turn their fortunes around, writes Mark Donnelly.
The Black Cats have still not won a game since August, but their 10-goal top scorer insists they need to believe that things will improve – starting with today’s trip to face fellow strugglers Burton Albion (KO 3pm).
With long-term injury victim Duncan Watmore among a host of first-team players unavailable, the Black Cats seem to have been on the receiving end of their fair share of bad luck recently.
Even in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa, a cruel deflection saw Sunderland concede an unfortunate second goal in yet another slice of misfortune.
And while 29-year-old Grabban accepts that can be often the case when you’re at the wrong end of the table, he believes things will change with just a couple of positive performances.
Grabban, speaking ahead of today’s vital trip to thirdbottom Burton, said: “That’s how it is. When you’re down, you get the bad luck, the bad decisions and all the bad fortune, but it changes and then we’ll be riding it. “We just have to wait. “Obviously, it is frustrating, but you have to have a bit more faith.
“We’re reaching the halfway point of the season, but a couple of wins and you’re out of it. It’s that simple.
“It’s about getting that win, but also performing well. The better we perform, the closer we’ll get to getting those wins.
“At the moment, we just need to raise our level of performance and that will take care of the rest.”
The midweek defeat at Villa Park saw Sunderland’s winless run stretch to 16 games, but Grabban insisted that the Black Cats are far from ready to give up as they bid to climb up the Championship table. “You just have to have that belief,” he maintained. “If you’ve got it then you’ve got it, but if you don’t then you give up. We’re not giving up and we’re just waiting for things to change and for us to do the right things.”
And an immediate chance to turn things around comes in the shape of this afternoon’s first ever game against the Brewers.
Nigel Clough’s Burton are also scrapping at the wrong end of the table and have lost their last five home games.
Grabban, though, is under no illusions as to how tough the trip to the Pirelli Stadium will be.
“Every game is big now,” added the on-loan Bournemouth striker. “There’s pressure on every game because of the situation.
“I expect it will be tough. The Championship is tough and a physical challenge. They’re struggling as well so I expect it’ll be a tough game.”