Sunderland's Luke O'Nien has admitted that Norwich's victory over his side earlier this season is providing further incentive ahead of Sunday's clash between the two teams.

The Black Cats were beaten 1-0 by Norwich at the Stadium of Light back in August, when Josh Sargent's goal was all that seperated the sides, in a game where Sunderland found themselves without head coach Alex Neil, ahead of his impending move to Stoke.

They are now set to meet again in the reverse fixture at Carrow Road on Sunday afternoon, in will be a significant match for both teams.

Norwich are currently sixth in the Championship table and will be looking to cement their place in the play-offs, while Sunderland are aiming to bounce back after three straight defeats, to get their push for the top six back on track.

Now it seems that getting one back on the Canaries, will also play a part in Sunderland's focus on their trip to Carrow Road, given O'Nien feels they should have taken more from their previous meeting.

Reflecting on that match ahead of Sunday's game, the midfielder was quoted by Norfolk Live as saying: "There's no doubt we'll be up for it. I remember playing them at home very clearly. It was a really good game, we set up really well.

"We know what quality they possess but we'll have a game plan, we'll work extra hard and we're giving ourselves the best chance by preparing as well as we can.

"We have the added fuel of feeling we dropped points at home against them when we deserved, in my opinion, the three points."

The Verdict

You do get the feeling that this is a really big game for Sunderland.

After three straight defeats, it seems vital that they get a win quickly, to keep their chances of breaking back into the play-off picture this season going.

Indeed, doing so against another top six hopeful in the form of Norwich, would feel like something of a message being sent out by the Black Cats.

With that in mind, if O'Nien and co. want to use that previous defeat as motivation going into this match, you can't blame them for doing so, as they look for every, potentially vital, little advantage.