Sunderland winger Adam Johnson feels that he and his teammates will go into their clash with Southampton with confidence following their 1-1 draw with Stoke City.

The Black Cats earned a point in their fight against the drop from the Premier League despite being reduced to 10 men after Craig Gardner was sent off for a challenge on Charlie Adam.

He told the club's official website: "It was difficult going down to ten men but everyone worked so hard and it paid off in the end; we got our rewards for all our hard work.

"It's a big game on Sunday; obviously if we can play like that with ten men, we've got an extra man for the game on Sunday so we will go into that full of confidence."

Sunderland are three points clear of the relegation zone in 15th place, with two games to play this season.

Written by
Simon Sinclair