THE way the first few fixtures have fallen has given us a really difficult start to our away games this season.

Barnsley, Portsmouth and now Sunderland: those are three clubs who have played in the Premier League and have realistic hopes of taking a step back towards their glory days by returning to the Championship next season.

The bookies have us at long odds to get a win at the Stadium of Light today – but that’s the way we like it.

The pressure is all on the home side and if we can get a win then it really does send out a massive statement to all the other clubs in the division.

Sunderland should win this division. It’s that simple.

They are a fantastic club and have an excellent squad of players, so anything other than promotion is surely unthinkable for them?

That makes them a target for every other club they play and that can be very difficult to handle.

We will certainly go there in good spirits following back-to-back wins.

The first came against Burton last Saturday when I thought we were terrific, especially in the second half.

I actually think we have played better than that this season without getting any reward.

I’m thinking of the Fleetwood game in particular, where we definitely didn’t get what we deserved.

But against Burton we were that little bit more clinical in front of goal and I don’t think anyone would argue that we deserved all three points.

Then we travelled down to Newport on Tuesday and really did get off to a flying start.

We asked the players to get at them from the very first kick, but two goals in four minutes was exceptional.

The second came from Shandon Baptiste and was a great moment for a really likeable and talented young man who makes progress with every game.

You look at Shandon and Fabio Lopes – who has been in the first team this season at 16 – and you see what a bright future this club is building.

There are plenty of other players who you will hear about in the near future.

I travelled to Southend on Wednesday night to watch the Under 23s win their cup game and really enjoyed seeing them perform.

They now go on to play

Swansea, Wolves and Hull in their group games, which will be competitive matches in which we

can really see how they are developing.

THE moment the draw was made for the next round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday night my phone lit up with messages and calls – half of them saying what a fantastic draw and the other half begging for tickets!

Facing Manchester City is an unbelievable draw for Oxford United fans who deserve it for the way they get behind us home and away.

The message to the players won’t change though.

That game is three weeks away and cannot get in the way of our thinking or preparation for some massive league games we have, starting today at the Stadium of Light.