DEAN Whitehead has told his Sunderland team-mates they will have to stand up to the Championship bully boys if they are to keep their Premiership charge on track.

The midfielder, who joined the Black Cats from League Two side Oxford in the summer, says less-talented teams will target Mick McCarthy's men for a physical work-out in an effort to knock them out of their stride.

Sunderland found themselves in just such a scenario last Friday when they travelled to the New Den to face Millwall.

An intimidating crowd, allied to a team with a physical approach as their game plan, contributed to a 2-0 loss and brought to a halt a six-game unbeaten run which had seen the Wearsiders rise to fourth in the table.

Winger Julio Arca was perhaps a prime example of someone who succumbed to the East Londoners' tactics. The Argentine was constantly picked on by Lions captain Kevin Muscat, so much so that his usual trickery was barely witnessed and when he dealt out some retribution found himself yellow carded and eventually substituted.

After Saturday's visit to Leicester and the home game with Ipswich, Sunderland face potentially intimidating trips to Stoke and then Cardiff and it is a surefire bet that the Britannia Stadium and Ninian Park will bare witness to a few meaty tackles.

Having played in the lower reaches prior to his move to the North-East, Whitehead is possibly one of the best to address his colleagues ahead of their next blood and thunder encounter.

Analysing the Millwall game, he said: "They do try the bullying tactics, which obviously the younger lads in the side and the less experienced lads are going to have to learn from.

"There will be a few sides who are going to try to do that to us because we have better players than a lot of teams in the league. They are going to have to try to rough us up to get anything from the game.

"League Two is very physical," he added. "There are a lot of big lads in the teams and they try to rough you up. But you just have to learn from it, get on with it and hopefully you'll deal with it better the next time you come across it."

Meanwhile, Sunderland centre back Neill Collins believes Leicester's new manager Craig Levein could be the next Scot to make an impact south of the border.

Levein left Scottish Premier League side Hearts to move to the Midlands and began his tenure with a 3-0 win over Coventry on Monday.

"I knew of him when he was playing up there," said the former Dumbarton star. "Hearts were struggling when he took over and he steered them into Europe."

However, Collins believes that despite the optimism that a new manager brings, Sunderland can emerge victorious on Saturday evening.

"It's another tough away game," he said. "They will be on a high after getting a good result under their new manager. But with our squad we feel we can go anywhere in this league and get a result, so we will always be confident.

"We're not looking over our shoulders at the teams behind us. We're looking to catch the teams above us."

If skipper Gary Breen returns to the team after missing out with a thigh injury last Friday, Collins could be asked to make way. But the player is realistic about the prospect.

"I'd be disappointed to lose my place," he said. "But I've got enormous respect for the skipper and he's been a huge help to me since I came to Sunderland.

"He's got so much experience at the highest level, including international football, and with his background, you know that his advice is worth listening to.

"All of the senior pros have been very supportive. And they help you in the right way. If you have people on at you the whole time bombarding you with information I don't think it sinks in as well. It's the quality of the advice, not the quantity."

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