Bruce: I'll get abuse!
Steve Bruce knows he'll be a marked man when he takes his Sunderland side to Wigan tomorrow.
And he will warn his players that his former club will be looking to put one over him for the second season in a row.
Bruce was in charge of Wigan Athletic from November 2007 to May 2009 and in that time he steered the Latics to an unlikely Premier League survival before enjoying an impressive following season in which the North West club finished eleventh.
Sunderland came calling after that and Bruce left the DW Stadium with no bitterness.
But he is fully aware that him being in the opposition dug-out will be an extra incentive for the home team to impress.
Bruce said: "I had 18 months at Wigan and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"We had a degree of success there – we had to have had – otherwise I wouldn't have got the job at Sunderland.
"But make no mistake they want to turn me over.
"There's plenty of people there who will be motivated by the desire to perhaps show the old manager a thing or two.
"But that's natural and it's not my concern.
"My concern is that we're taking 4,500 fans down there. It's remarkable and we must make sure we give them something to cheer about and a team of players that they can associate with and who will reflect their hunger for success for this club."
Bruce says a travelling army of support, such as the one Sunderland will take to Wigan tomorrow, was one of the attractions of taking over the club in the first place.
But he believes he is now beginning to mould a team capable of doing the fans' passion justice.
"An away support like we're taking away this weekend is just incredible – especially considering that this club has won 10 Premier League games away from home in six years.
"That's the big thing we have to tackle and it's one of the reasons I've made the changes I have.
"But there's plenty of good managers before me at this club who have struggled with the same problem and not managed to crack it.
"I know that it's a tough task and I also know that it's a task that plenty of other Premier League managers are struggling with at their clubs.
"But I do feel though that we have the nucleus of a good team here.
"There's a lot of them here who are hungry to prove themselves and hopefully they'll be able to put smiles on the faces of our fans in the games ahead, starting with this weekend."
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Weather for Sunderland
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
