But they argue that it's hard to be as motivated when you are playing in smaller games just like to tomorrow's away day against Birmingham City (no disrespect to the Blues).

I can't say that's something I've ever understood, mainly because I'm a bad loser and always want to win.

Of course, I never had the talent to be a professional footballer, so maybe it's different when you're looking at it from that perspective.

Still, whether it's hard or not for the lads to motivate themselves for the trip to the Midlands, tomorrow's clash could be just as big as those against Man Utd and Liverpool.

Getting yourself up for big games is all well and good, and it's hard not to feel a little smug after a 2-2 draw with Fergie's boys (a game which we almost won) and a 1-0 win over the Rafa's Reds (courtesy of a well-placed beach ball).

However, consistency is the name of the game and that means performing well against everyone – not just the big boys.

So tomorrow we have to make sure it's not a case of after the Lord Mayor's show.

This is our best start to a Premier League campaign in many a year, but now we have to keep it going.

We will, of course, have to do that without the services of Lee Cattermole for the next couple of months.

Like I have said, I was never a big Cattermole fan and certainly wasn't keen on signing him.

But he has been a key player for us so far, along with Lorik Cana, who was a colossus last weekend.

It will be interesting to see how we cope in the middle of the park tomorrow, but hopefully the loss of Cattermole won't be too keenly felt.

Going back to the beach ball, which made almost every back page at the start of this week, what's the bets that one or two inflatables make an appearance against the Blues.

It's thought that Man Utd fans have bought out the Liverpool beach set ahead of Sunday's clash at Anfield.

But I expect one or two jokers among the Sunderland support will be aiming to pay homage to the big red inflatable at St Andrew's.