Stoke City will have their work cut out this weekend as they face Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland, the form team of the Premiership.

Martin O’ Neill’s impact at Sunderland has been nothing short of astounding since taking over early in December. When O’Neill arrived, Sunderland had won just one of their previous nine games, had a mere 11 points, and were flirting with the idea of relegation.

Wearside was a grim place to be back then. Fast forwards two months and it’s a different story altogether. In the nine Premier League games since his reign began, O’Neill has gained 19 points from a possible 27, six wins, one draw and two losses.

His only losses came against Tottenham and Chelsea, so it’s fair to say fans of the Black Cats will be delighted with O’Neill’s impact. The team’s inspirational turnaround shows just how good a top flight manager the Northern Irishman is.

With much the same personnel as his predecessor Steve Bruce, O’Neill has managed to instil his squad with a confidence and self-belief that was severely lacking under the previous regime.

Forgotten players such as Craig Gardner have shone, as has the newly introduced James McClean. The return from injury of ex-Manchester United forward Frazier Campbell has also been a big boost.

Sunderland moved above Stoke  in the league on Wednesday, with The Potters currently enduring a miserable run of form. With only one win from their last seven and two straight defeats, Stoke fans will be experiencing the exact opposite emotions to their Sunderland counterparts.

Stoke’s dip in form may be due in part, to fatigue. This tie will be Stoke’s 38th game of a long, hard season and they may just be starting to feel the heat. It’s unlikely you’ll hear Tony Pulis complaining about this however, his team are still competing in the FA Cup and the Europa League.

This leads me onto my next point, if Martin O’ Neill deserves praise for his short-term impact at Sunderland, Tony Pulis’s endeavours at Stoke are worthy of every acclaim known to the footballing world.

Since gaining promotion from The Championship in the 2007-2008 campaign, Pulis has transformed Stoke City into a solid, stable and successful Premier League team.

Never in danger of being relegated since promotion, Stoke have reached an FA Cup final and qualified for the Europa League. This has been due to hard work, some astute signings from Pulis as well as Rory Delap’s throwing ability.

With regards to this weekends fixture, Stoke will be looking to bounce back against a flying Sunderland team. I predict a tight affair with Sunderland just edging it perhaps.

Stoke’s Matthew Etherington is a doubt, but other than that Pulis’s squad is close to having a clean bill of health. Sunderland on the other hand, have several key men out. Nicklas Bendtner, Lee Cattermole, David Vaughan and Wes Brown are all sidelined, although new loan signing Sotirios Kyrgiakos could make his debut.

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