By Graeme Anderson and Paul Fraser

CONNOR Wickham insists Sunderland players will not fear playing at the Stadium of Light this weekend – even if it is against the team that smashed eight past them earlier this season.

As well as the 8-0 thrashing to Southampton in October, memories are still fresh of a mass walk-out of fans in the Black Cats’ last appearance on home turf - the shocking 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

That was the second exodus in the last three home games, with the terrace desertions prompted by conceding four goals to Aston Villa before half-time last month, resulting in the sacking of Gus Poyet.

But Wickham, part of the team which was hammered at St Mary’s six months ago, says Sunderland players regained a lot of confidence and pride in their battling 1-1 draw with Stoke City last Saturday.

And he says the squad is determined to take that level of performance into the home game against the in-form Saints this weekend.

“I think we showed at Stoke City that the will and the spirit is still there in the squad,” the 22-year-old said. “The supporters responded to that. They gave us a great ovation at the end of the game and now we want to give them something to cheer about at the Stadium of Light.

“We know that we’re right in the dogfight at the bottom of the table. And everyone at the club - players and fans alike - have to give their very best to get us out of it.”

Sunderland dropped into the relegation zone last Saturday, despite the point gained at the Britannia.

Wickham acknowledges that poor home form has had a big part to play in Sunderland’s struggle this season. The Black Cats have won just three of their 17 games at the Stadium of Light in the 2014/15 campaign.

That woeful statistic must improve if Sunderland are to stand any chance of Premier League survival after slipping back into the relegation zone.

“We’ve disappointed badly in a couple of our recent home games,” the 6ft 3in frontman accepted. “But that happens every season at every club.

“The important thing is that we look forwards, not backwards now.

“We were all really disappointed not to get three points at Stoke because we felt we deserved them.

"There's nothing we can do about that though now. We just have to continue playing as well as we did at the Britannia in the second half but look to improve our finishing in front of goal.

“If we do that, we’ll have no problems from anyone and the supporters will be right behind us. Our fans were magnificent at Stoke.

“It was just a reminder that if you give them something to cheer, they’ll always respond.

“And I'm sure we’ll be going into the Southampton game not thinking about anything else other than getting the three points which will help us get out of trouble.”

Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat was provided with further evidence of the potential of young striker Duncan Watmore ahead of the visit of Southampton.

Advocaat had hinted shortly after his arrival that he could be willing to give Watmore an opportunity before the end of the season but that has not materialised so far.

The 21-year-old, though, hit the winner in the Under-21s’ 1-0 win over Tottenham on Monday to increase the calls for him to be given a chance up front, particularly after news that Steven Fletcher might not play again this season with an ankle problem.

Despite impressing at the younger level, Watmore has only played 27 minutes for the first team and that was 14 months ago in the FA Cup against Carlisle United.