Opinion: Why Spirited Sunderland Performance Gives Us Renewed Survival Hope

Any neutral watching probably wouldn't view the Sunderland performance the same way that I did, but having seen this team capitulate spectacularly at Burnley on Saturday it was great to see us show our resilience and mettle when many - me included - had us written off before a ball had even been kicked.

I can appreciate the massive task that David Moyes has on at Sunderland, so watching our patch-work side dig in to get a result is almost more pleasurable than it probably should be, if that makes any sense at all.

He's made mistakes - plenty of them, in fact - but the job as manager of this club seems like an almost impossible one at times, so the small improvements are always good to see. Seeing players that I've previously written off - the likes of Jack Rodwell, Donald Love, Adnan Januzaj - play well was nice. I love being proven wrong, and I hope that they can continue to do so.

Our home form seems to have improved immeasurably and we have two more league games at the Stadium of Light in January, albeit against top opposition in Stoke and Tottenham.

Making our home ground a 'fortress' might sound clichéd, but it's true - sort your results out in your home games at then the rest should just fall into place. You only have to think back to the Burnley game for a prime example of this - Sean Dyche's man will likely stave off relegation this season if they can sustain their absolutely fantastic run of form at Turf Moor. Today, showing the supporters that they have the fight in them to battle back against adversity, was huge.

Coming from behind twice to draw a game feels somewhat like a win, which I suppose is why I am so much more confident now about our chances of staying up than I was before today's match.

Our squad is threadbare, we're about to lose another three players for the whole of January due to an international tournament, we have no money to bring in anyone of real quality and the new injuries to our bigger stars seem to be coming thick and fast - the realisation that we are completely up against it should be enough to bring this team together over the coming weeks. We might only have 13 or 14 senior players available by the time we play Stoke City but we have to just get on with it and work things out.

I bloody love this club and can't bare to see it suffer. Days like today, where the players play like they give a sh*t, make it worth it. I say it time and time again but all that we as fans of Sunderland want to see from any player is them giving their absolute all in each and every game that they play.

That mentality - the battle-hardened spirit of the Wearside people - is what will see us safe come the end of the season. Maintaining it is absolutely key to any success that we achieve in the coming months.