Sunderland v Reading preview: Martin O’Neill says he is the only man to lead Black Cats

The clash between the two struggling Premier League sides marks O’Neill’s one-year anniversary in the Sunderland hotseat.

It’s safe to say that most Mackems fans would have hoped for a better 12 months after the Northern Irishman’s arrival.

The north-east club sit in the bottom three following Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea and have claimed only two wins in their last 23 league games.

Tomorrow’s rearranged match against Reading, currently 19th, gives Sunderland the chance to kick-start their campaign, though some pundits, including former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, have suggested that anything other than a home win could spell the end for O’Neill.

That suggestion was given short shrift by O’Neill today, the manager insisting he is the best man for the job.

O’Neill said: “So what do you do then? So you go and put someone else in charge, he gets a group of 12, 13 games and can’t win any matches? It’s the same thing. I don’t want to sound wildly boastful, but not only am I the best man for the job, I am actually the only man for the job.

“We will steer it through, we will get calmer waters ahead — it might take us a few months to do that — and then we will see. If we are continuing for the next couple of years to be in this position, then I will certainly question it then.”

Sunderland’s leading scorer Steven Fletcher (ankle) remains a doubt, so Connor Wickham could deputise.

Pavel Pogrebnyak is a doubt for Reading, who are also missing Chris Gunter (hamstring), Jimmy Kebe (groin) and Jem Karacan (knee).