Bardo talks O'Neill but not Euro bid (From The Northern Echo)

Bardo talks O'Neill but not Euro bid

8:00am Saturday 11th February 2012 in Sport By Paul Fraser, Chief Football Writer

MUCH has been made about the impact Martin O'Neill has had on the Sunderland dressing room, with minor adjustments rather than wholesale changes seemingly the secret to success at the Stadium of Light.

And defender Phil Bardsley has tried to explain his reasons why there has been such a dramatic turnaround under the Northern Irishman, with a place in the FA Cup fifth round and a rise up the Premier League table evidence of his early success.

"The players are showing a great attitude to win football matches and it has been showing," said Bardsley, ahead of this afternoon's visit from Arsenal.

"We go in to the Arsenal games (the Gunners return next Saturday for an FA cup tie) confident we can get something out of them both. People are now thinking we are hard to beat. We are a team full of desire. We are set up to make it difficult for opponents.

"If you can do that and then have players who can create chances and score goals, which we have, then there's always a chance you will win matches. That's the main thing."

O'Neill has always been renowned for being able to make the players he has at his disposal feel like they can play at the top of their game regularly during spells with Wycombe, Leicester, Norwich, Celtic and Aston Villa.

And Bardsley said: "The manager has shown a great belief in the lads. We all do believe in each other more. He has changed bits and bobs defensively. We are defending set pieces really well.

"He's not done too much but he has been brilliant in what he has been saying to us. It has been really effective. In himself he is a winner and he has shown that during his past as a manager. We are playing like he wants us to."

Sunderland are up to eighth in the Premier League and defeating sixth-placed Arsenal would leave the Black Cats just four points shy of them.

With an FA Cup run also a possibility, European football is not beyond the realms of possibility.

"It's difficult to talk about Europe," said Bardsley. "We have only won a couple of FA Cup ties and climbed up the table, it's too early to be thinking along the lines of Europe.

"We have a league game against Arsenal first. It's so hard to start to set sights on big things like Europe, for now it is all about finishing in the top half of the table. If Europe was to come along after that then great. We would work extra hard to get there. But we can't think like that."