THEY say you acquire strength through adversity, so if Adnan Januzaj is to leave Sunderland at the end of the season, he will depart as one of the strongest players in English football. Conditions don’t get much more adverse than the ones the winger is experiencing at the moment.

Having spent the formative years of his career challenging at the top end of the table with Manchester United, Januzaj finds himself playing for a Sunderland side who are six points adrift of safety with 11 games to play. Today’s game against Burnley isn’t just a chance to kick-start a successful safety push, it might be the Black Cats’ only chance to stay in touch with the teams above them.

Collectively, this has been a difficult season for Januzaj, and individually, the winger has also struggled. On more than one occasion, his manager, David Moyes, has demanded much more from him, and he heads into today’s game without a Premier League goal to his name.

Nevertheless, he remains upbeat about Sunderland’s prospects in their survival battle, and adamant he made the right move when he swapped Old Trafford for the Stadium of Light. Like Marcos Alonso, a player who spent a season battling against the drop on Wearside before heading off to Fiorentina and then Chelsea, Januzaj is hoping this season’s struggles are the prelude to bigger and better things.

“It has been very difficult because it is not easy to go from Man United to Sunderland,” said the winger. “I had to just do it, I will learn from it because I am 22.

“People think I am 26 or 27, I am only 22. I know people want more from me. The other side of it is that they have to look at other parts of my game.

“When I leave here I know I will be happy. I have learned a lot and it will make me stronger. I don’t know where I will be, but I will feel much fitter and will be happy.”

When he was breaking through at Manchester United, Januzaj was a rampaging wide man who did not have to worry too much about his defensive responsibilities.

At Sunderland, he has spent much more time chasing down opponents in his own half, and while his lack of success in front of goal might be disappointing, he feels his all-round game has improved markedly in the last seven months.

Ideally, he would like to be more of a threat in the opposition box, but interestingly, he concedes his first thought at the moment is defensive rather than offensive as Sunderland look to tighten things up at the back.

“I have been used to going into a team that tends to be winning,” said Januzaj. “Now, this team has been losing and has been used to losing in recent years. I didn’t know what was happening at first, but I am enjoying it now, enjoying playing football.

“It is hard. When you are in a team that sees more of the ball, then you’re able to do more with the ball. Now, we defend more. It is not easy because you have to counter-attack and when you do, you tend to have three or four players around you. Sometimes, it is not easy to find that last pass. I am one of the dangerous players, but my mind-set here is to defend first and then attack.”

Be that as it may, Sunderland will have to carry a threat if they are to triumph over Burnley this afternoon and reignite their survival push.

This will be the fourth meeting between the two sides this season, with Sunderland having suffered two defeats at Turf Moor as well as drawing 0-0 on Wearside in the third round of the FA Cup.

Burnley have exceeded expectations since winning promotion last season, and with Sean Dyche’s side having been unfortunate not to take something from Anfield last weekend, Januzaj accepts today’s game will pose a considerable physical test.

“We have played a lot of games against them this season and we know how they play,” he said. “They are not an easy team to beat. They are very physical and we have to stick together as a team and be physical and hard to beat. In our heads is not to think about how they play - my mind-set is we have to win the game.”

This is Januzaj’s first experience of battling against the relegation, but the Belgian international is taking heart from Sunderland’s track record of confounding expectations at the foot of the table.

“Sunderland have had worst starts in the league and still stayed up,” he said. “This position doesn’t mean anything and is why we are all staying positive. If you don’t stay positive, you might as well give all the points to the opposition.”