Sunderland 1 Wigan Athletic 1

Feb 7 2010 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

IT was only 10 days ago that Steve Bruce said Sunder- land’s home games against Stoke and Wigan would define their season.

Two draws and two dreadful games of football later, he will now be praying he was wrong.

Because Sunderland’s last two games have been a huge disappointment, both as a spectacle and in terms of results.

Bruce meant, of course, that two wins would put Sunderland back on course for a top-10 finish while two defeats would leave them in a relegation battle.

Well, they didn’t take six points. And neither did they end up empty-handed.

A goalless stalemate against Stoke and then yesterday’s 1-1 draw against Bruce’s old club Wigan, yielded two points – not enough to get Sunderland firing on all cylinders again but just enough to keep them hovering above the drop zone.

No wonder nerves are fraying at the Stadium of Light, both on and off the pitch.

Sunderland’s run of 11 league games without a win has left the players looking edgy while the fans are understandably tense after seeing the season’s early promise fade to be replaced with the threat of yet another relegation dogfight.

But the nervy atmosphere is certainly not helping Sunderland’s cause.

The mood was subdued right from the start against Wigan, and became funereal when the Latics took the lead just before the midway point in the first half through Mohamed Diame.

Sunderland were booed off at half-time and, although they improved markedly in the second half, it was not until Kenwyne Jones had equalised just after the hour that hopes were raised.

After levelling, Sunderland looked the more likely to go on and win but they just could not find the goal that would have lifted the gloom that has hung over the club since that last victory against Arsenal way back on November 21.

And the draw just ratchets up the pressure as the Black Cats prepare to go to basement side Portsmouth – thrashed 5-0 by Manchester United yesterday – on Tuesday night.