But the scale of the investment in fresh blood on Wearside has been such that a place in the bottom three is not what I expected at this stage of the season and perhaps not what most Black Cats fans expected.

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It was the biggest spending spree in the club's history, and yet Sunderland go into tomorrow's clash only slightly better off than opponents Derby, who prop up the league.

Only four points separate the clubs – ironically the same margin that meant Sunderland were Championship winners ahead of the third-placed Rams last term.

The difficult start Sunderland have had illustrates a couple of things for me.

The first and most glaring is that the gulf between Championship and Premier League class grows wider by the season, telling us how vital it is to hang in there.

The second is that, while they got a lot of talented Championship players in the summer, many of them have yet to prove they are Premier League players.

Their price tags were high and that may have had a lot to do with the fact that the rest of football knew that Sunderland had investors willing to spend big to pursue their dreams and all of Wearside's dreams.

It's expected that the money men thought a £37m outlay would pay for slightly more than third from bottom with 14 games gone.

Tomorrow is now a big game – a must-win in terms of retaining fans' belief as much as anything else.

The club has enjoyed plenty of goodwill from the supporters this season, despite a bad start in terms of results, but anxiety can easily creep in and that could damage Sunderland's survival chances.

Forget Paul Jewell, the new Derby boss, and the reaction he might get from the Rams.

Tomorrow is all about Sunderland and how they react against a side that has been so poor this season, they haven't even scored an away goal in the Premier League.

Prediction: Home win.

Is Lawsy spot on, or is he talking balderdash? Use the comment box below to tell us your opinions...