Fan blog: Visit of Burnley is make or break for Sunderland

This week’s visit of Burnley presents Sunderland with yet another great opportunity to secure a league victory.

The thing is I'm starting to lose count of how many times I've said that this season. The Swansea, Stoke and Southampton games certainly spring to mind.

Burnley are fresh from a spirited display at Anfield. They can feel somewhat unlucky to have come away empty handed, for what would have been only a third point on the road this season.

There in itself presents a problem, a psychological one too, especially where Sunderland are concerned.

How many times do sides end hoodoos at The Stadium of Light?

Or a player ends a goal-scoring drought by bagging a brace?

Far too frequently for such things to be coincidental! The players should be hugely motivated for this game. David Moyes' team talk should be straight forward.

Everyone, including the players, are well aware of what is at stake in the coming weeks, and they should be hell-bent on rectifying our current problems.

Andre Gray has quite simply, destroyed Sunderland this season, and he'll be relishing the opportunity to fill his boots once again.

Moyes must come up with a game plan to combat that threat; otherwise Sunderland could be on a hiding to nothing.

We have a talisman of our own in Jermain Defoe, our only likely goal-scorer, and obviously the supply to him has to be better.

Sunderland need to be up and at it right from the word go and collectively, need a formula to sustain a performance for a full ninety minutes.

There's no use in dressing it up, Saturday won't be pretty and it really is a must win game.

Anything else and Sunderland's fate will almost certainly be sealed.

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