Cup game shouldn’t be taken lightly – it can build momentum and improve morale

It is a cup and league double header for Sunderland this week, with the Stadium of Light hosting Sheffield Wednesday on Thursday in the Carabao Cup and Scunthorpe United three days later in the league.

Although getting out of this division is the obvious priority for Sunderland this season, the cup game is a test for the squad against higher league opposition .

It also gives the manager the opportunity to try players who haven’t featured too much up to now.

It still doesn’t feel right that a club in the Championship is higher league opposition for Sunderland.

But that is the reality, so a win would be a boost and continue the promising start as well as getting Sunderland in the hat for the next round.

I know some will say the cup is an unwanted distraction but any win is always good for dressing room morale and in what will be a long, gruelling season of third tier football, the prospect of maybe getting a Premier League club to Wearside just might bring a bit of glamour and be a reminder of what Sunderland hope to get back to.

The Scunthorpe game, I accept, is the one we really have to win.

It is a long time since Sunderland last won their first two league home games and if we are to bounce straight back up, that home form is key, so making the Stadium of Light a fortress and an intimidating place both on and off the pitch will make the job so much easier.

That is why I think the fans will be even more important this season.

They were a huge factor in the win over Charlton, sticking with the team even when Sunderland were a goal down and struggling in the first half when it would have been easy to say ‘here we go again’ and get disgruntled.

Jack Ross recognised and praised that support and if Sunderland can attract another big crowd against Scunthorpe and start winning games regularly to create real momentum, more fans, I am sure, will come back and our attendances will go up and up.

Of course all of that is best case scenario and it only takes a couple of defeats to burst the bubble, that is why I have always thought the early games of this season in League One are absolutely crucial.

The team has to give the fans something to get behind and if they see a team giving absolutely everything they will respond.

I know from personal experience when you have that crowd behind you it is exhilarating and makes such a massive difference but to get that support it has to be earned, just like it was against Charlton.