Cats inspired by 'world class' Gordon
JOHN Mensah believes "world class" Craig Gordon can be Sunderland's biggest survival weapon.
Mensah's imposing form in an unchanged back four for the last four games has helped the Black Cats put a little distance between themselves and the bottom three.
But Gordon produced a string of critical saves in last weekend's 1-1 home draw with Manchester City, and the Ghana international goes into tomorrow's clash with Birmingham City feeling his goalkeeper's ability has helped breathe new confidence into the team.
Mensah said: "I believe Craig Gordon can be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
"He is an intelligent goalkeeper and does everything well. He has made many important save for us in the last few games.
"Everyone saw how well he played against Manchester City. He was really brilliant and we thank God for his performance.
"He did not have so many saves to make when we beat Bolton, but he did make an important save when the score was still close, and that gave us more confidence.
"We all believe in each other and that is very important. We want to show against Birmingham and all the rest of the season that we are a very good team and should not be close to the bottom."
Mensah's potential was clear from his early Sunderland performances after joining on loan from Lyon, but his injuries kept him out of the side too often.
Steve Bruce and the club's medical team have devised a programme to help him recover better between games, and it means he only trains with his team-mates on the eve of games.
The defender admits it's a situation he didn't embrace at first.
"After we lost at Arsenal we had a team meeting at the training ground and Steve Bruce spoke very well to us," said Mensah.
"He inspired us before we went to train, but then before we went onto the pitch, he said 'John, you stay inside today'.
"I said 'no, I must train with my team', so he let me go out, but then I felt pain in my calf and I realised he was right.
"I thank my manager and the physios because I listen to them now, and my prayers are answered because I am playing the games.
"Now I want to repay them and the fans by giving them everything to help the club for the rest of the season."
Alex McLeish's Birmingham can play with confidence too, of course, as they are already assured of Premier League survival.
But Mensah said: "This is a very important game for us. We still want to finish in the top 10, and we have really tough away games next week, so we need to beat Birmingham.
"We can do that. Every game in this league is very hard, and we will have respect for Birmingham, but we will also have big respect for each other in our team because we are good."
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Weather for Jarrow
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -0 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
