Sunderland 1-0 Aston Villa: Daily Mirror match report

Steve Bruce reckons he’s succeeded in his biggest challenge - making Sunderland mentally tough.

That’s quite a boast. From Peter Reid to Roy Keane bosses on Wearside have been grappling with how to toughen up a club which has so much untapped potential, on and off the field.

But Bruce is convinced his current “mob”, from star striker Darren Bent, to the disappointed lads who warmed the bench yet helped dish out passionate dressing room encouragement, are ready to raise the bar.

The greatest test comes soon enough. Next Sunday afternoon Bruce’s men travel to bitter local rivals Newcastle and face 52,000 raucous Geordies in a test of bottle to rival the best in world football.

We’ll soon know how much Bruce has galvanised Sunderland. But the way they scrapped and battled against the Aston Villa’s second half tide of attacks, and came out narrow winners, indeed suggests that the Mackems are made of stern stuff.

You can’t beat a North-East derby to get the goose-bumps up, on either side of the divide, and Bruce has already fired the first shots.

He said: “I think it is ten years since we went six games unbeaten in the Premier League.

“The mentality of the players have changed. These individuals don’t give it up. That was our Achilles heel. We look like we are on the right lines. You can’t take these things for granted but I am very pleased with what we have seen at the moment.

“The one thing we needed this summer - we were too brittle. You can’t play in the Premier League being brittle and we were. We conceded too easily. We conceded too many goals. We have kept three clean sheets on the trot and five all season. That is a terrific achievement no matter who you have played against.”

If you judge a team by the strength of it’s bench it is easy to see why Sunderland rose to seventh, after Richard Dunne’s first half own goal clinched the points. It landed Dunne with an unfortunate record - the most own goals (eight) in Premier League history.

British record keeper Craig Gordon, Ghana World Cup quarter finalists John Mensah and Asamoah Gyan, the experienced Bolo Zenden who would fit straight into most top flight sides, sat behind Bruce. None of them sulked.

Bruce added: “Before the game you could see the substitutes geeing the team on. It was terrific to see. I said it to my staff, great to see that. They genuinely meant it. They know the team is playing well but they know their chance will come.

“The derby game? We are ready for it and we go there in good spirits. It is a derby game and form and stuff like that goes out of the window.

“I’m aware of what it means, but I’m looking forward to it already. I’m genuinely pleased for the north east to have a derby which is terrific. I’ve never been to one, so I’m looking forward to it.

“The one thing with derby games is you must play the game not the occasion. Sometimes you can get too wrapped up in it and forget there is a game of football. We will make sure we have enough to go and take the ball and play. I have a good feeling about this mob that I have got now.

“We have got a bit of resilience. Last year I don’t think we would have won that. That is what we have improved on. I am pleased with what we have got to go into battle.”

Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier has the opposite problem ahead of next week’s derby clash with Birmingham. Villa are clearly a slick outfit, lacking self-belief and the hard edge needed to grind out results. It will surely come back in time. They should have been level had Emile Heskey not miss kicked completely when six yards out, and Stewart Downing hit the post early on.

The Frenchman said: “What this team needs is to have more faith and a bit more belief in themselves. Maybe it is because we are changing a few things with the philosophy of playing but at the same time we know where we are going. It will take time. Sometimes it looks as though they can do very well but at the other times they don’t believe in themselves. They have to believe.

“The team has had three managers in the space of a month and a half and you have to take that into account. Some players thought they would never play for the club again and then they come back into the picture and for others they do not play as regularly. It is been an unsettling period for the club.”

Bruce is carrying belief and hope into a week that will crank up to a spine-tingling finale at St James’s Park next Sunday. But then so is Chris Hughton after the Geordies win at West Ham. something has got to give.