That was certainly the aim when the new Black Cats boss and his expensively-remodelled squad embarked upon the Premier League campaign in August, and it appeared that might be a somewhat modest aim after they started impressively. However, a run of 14 league games without a league win left Bruce's men uncomfortably perched just above the drop zone until a 4-0 defeat of Bolton on March 9 ended their long wait and eased them into the relative calm of lower mid-table. That victory was the high-point in a recent run which has seen Sunderland lose only one of their last seven, and that at title-chasing Arsenal, and as he contemplated Saturday's clash with former club Birmingham at the Stadium of Light, the manager was casting his glance upwards. The game is the club's fourth in succession on their own pitch, and a win would give them a total of eight points from the 12 on offer. Bruce said: "I would be very, very pleased with that if I could get it, and it would define our season because then we have got a chance of going above Blackburn, we have got a chance of catching Bolton and making a play of finishing in the top 10. "That's what we have got to try to achieve now. Can we try to stop looking over our shoulders - even though we still are, if I am being honest, we are still looking over. "But that's got to be the aim, to finish off the season strongly. It won't be easy - we have got some big games coming up, either from the top end or the bottom end of the table." Those big games include trips to Aston Villa and Liverpool, as well as Tottenham's visit to Wearside, and in the circumstances, any improvement on the seven-point cushion the Black Cats currently enjoy over the bottom three would be more than welcome. After a winter of discontent, Bruce is finally starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel with his injury problems abating, although key midfielder Lee Cattermole's persistent hamstring-related discomfort is a growing concern, while impressive defender John Mensah is being nursed through with minimal training between games. Cattermole, like fellow hamstring victim Andy Reid, has a chance of playing tomorrow, as does striker Kenwyne Jones, whose hip flexor injury is not as serious as was first thought. But whoever does run out ahead of kick-off, Bruce has seen a marked rise in confidence after the Bolton win and a performance against Manchester City last weekend which took the club within seconds of their first back-to-back league victories in 48 attempts. He said: "Of course they [the players] get beaten up as much as anybody else. They go home and their families are on their backs and they don't enjoy it. "It has been a particularly tough time. But the win against Bolton calms things down and then on the back of that, you put in a really good performance against Manchester City, where some of the football we played was excellent. "Now if I take you back two weeks prior to that and some of the dross that was played that day against Fulham... "However, at least we took a point from it." Bruce received a warm reception from the City fans at St Andrews on October 24, only to see his side slump to a 2-1 defeat, and he has been impressed by the progress the Midlanders have made this season. He said: "I read a stat that they had picked the same team for 14 games on the trot - that can only breed a little bit of confidence, breed a little bit of belief in the team, and of course, there is a great understanding when you are able to do that."
