Signs of improvement are there, insists positive Oviedo

BRYAN Oviedo is detecting signs of improvement from the Black Cats, and with only small margins to translate that into results, the Costa Rican wing-back believes they can make the next step at home to Aston Villa tomorrow.

For perhaps the first time this season, Sunderland have strung three good Championship performances together – at Bolton Wanderers, against Middlesbrough and Millwall. The problem is, they lost the first game and drew the other two. They are four points adrift of safety with 11 games to play, and weekend postponements mean Hull City, Barnsley and Burton Albion have an extra match.

Nevertheless, Oviedo, who scored the opening goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Millwall, thinks progress is being made.

“The confidence is still there,” he insisted. “We know we have a good team, and we know we can play well. Maybe the results have not quite been what we were wanting, but it is coming. It is just a case of continuing to make little steps, and then everything will come together as we want.

“It’s not easy coming to Millwall to play against this type of team. They know what they are doing, and it’s hard.

“I thought we played very well in the first half, and in the second half, we knew what they would try to do. I thought we were unlucky. They only really had one (chance), and they got lucky with it.”

Millwall owed their goal to Hawkeye technology, which revealed Lee Cattermole’s “goalline clearance” from Shaun Hutchinson had only come after the ball crossed the line.

“The most important thing now is that we have to win the games we have coming up,” stressed Oviedo.