STEVE COTTERILL takes his Burnley side to the Stadium of Light tomorrow confessing his spell at Sunderland was the most difficult period of his life.

The Burnley boss spent five ill-fated months on Wearside as Howard Wilkinson's assistant.

The move turned sour as the pair failed to halt Sunderland's poor start to the 2002-03 Premiership season and won only two of 20 games in charge.

Cotterill then spent nearly a year out of the game in a bid to recharge his batteries and resisted several job offers before he finally agreed to take the Turf Moor hot-seat in June.

Those on Wearside who doubted the credentials of the highly-rated coach need only glance at the league table to see that his side are only three points adrift of a Championship play-off slot - a remarkable achievement given he has no money to bring in new players.

Despite his unsuccessful spell on Wearside the Clarets' boss said: "I'm looking forward to going back."

The former Cheltenham and Stoke boss added: "It's a wonderful stadium packed with passionate fans who support their team.

"My best memory is probably when we beat Liverpool 2-0 at home. That was very much a game when we played really well.

"But it was a tough time for me and a tough part of my life.

"It was at a time when I lost my mother, but some of the bad experiences of life probably make you a better person and more humble."

To be fair to Cotterill and Wilkinson, the Black Cats were already a team on the slide when they arrived in the North-East and five months was not enough time to turn things around.

Working conditions weren't helped by the fact that no money was available for players, as Reid had spent what money was left in the Sunderland kitty, and several of those big signings flopped.

Cotterill added: "We weren't winning games and it was tough all-round and probably the hardest five months of my life.

"I haven't got anything to hide when I go back though as I worked my socks off when I was there."

Cotterill knows his side face a tough test as Sunderland are one of the Championship's form teams at the moment and their cause won't be helped by his absence from the sidelines.

The 40-year-old will serve a one-match ban at the Stadium of Light following a sending off at Gillingham.

"Sunderland are the form side and both Mick and myself were nominated for the manager of the month in November, so that is a credit to our players that they're doing OK for us," said Cotterill.

"A few of the boys at Sunderland were playing when I was there and I still know them now.

"People like Stephen Wright, George McCartney and Marcus Stewart were all very prominent when I was there."

Steve Caldwell has been ruled out of tomorrow's game with a hamstring strain suffered in training on Tuesday.

Although manager Mick McCarthy says the injury is not serious, it is likely the Scottish international defender will miss the four-game festive period against Burnley, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End.

McCarthy is likely to turn to Neill Collins, who deputised so well for the injured Gary Breen in October.

The Sunderland boss also hinted that both Jeff Whitely and Matt Piper will be considered this weekend.

Read more about Sunderland here.