WHEN it comes to preparing for and playing against a team managed by Russell Martin, Tony Mowbray has plenty of experience and says his side will have to "suffer" against Southampton today.

But not, he hopes, like they did against Martin's Swansea last season.

On that occasion, Luke O'Nien was sent off after just 18 minutes, which resulted in the most testing afternoon against, like any side managed by Martin, a team extremely comfortable and confident in possession, making their opponents chase.

“That was a very frustrating afternoon," says Mowbray, looking back on a game that Sunderland went on to lose 3-1.

"We do not want a repeat. Russell’s sides play a very distinctive way and we didn’t really handle Swansea on that occasion."

The key today - preferably with 11 men - will be striking the right balance, says Mowbray.

“You have to very aggressive when you play against Swansea or now, Southampton because they are very, very good at keeping possession, not for the sake of it but they try to frustrate the opposition so you over-press and then they pass through that press and or you’re left one on one at the back," he said.

"We have to get the balance between not being too passive – because it’s not nice for the 40,000 fans to see the away team having 70% of the ball – but at the same time, it can be very dangerous to over-commit against teams like this. So it’s about making the right decisions when to sit in and when to try and get the ball back off them.

“It will be a cagey game but an intriguing one. As a fan, I’d certainly want to be there.

 “I’ve played Russell teams many times and I know how they play and we’ve been working on that on the training pitch. Let’s see what sort of game comes out. Maybe we have to suffer a little bit without the ball. We will have to be patient too. It is a challenge which hopefully we are up for it and find a way to win.”

Southampton head for Sunderland for today's 12.30pm kick-off having made an unbeaten start to their Championship campaign, winning three of their first four games. Sunderland, though, are unbeaten in three, with Mowbray keen to ensure last season's feel-good factor doesn't disappear.

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He said: “The way to keep that is by winning football matches . Fans will only be happy if we are winning and competing at the right end of the table.

"Never judge a team after four games although what I would say is that if performance wise, we play as well as we have these four games until the end of the season, I am 100% sure we will be in the top half of the table, pushing hard.

“What part of the game do fans like? Is it just the winning or our style of play? Or is it our work ethic? We have to combine all three of them to ensure that even on those days when we may get beat that they see a team that is fighting, working hard, being competitive and that is what I feel I can do. There are such fine margins.

“I look at Preston. We found a way to lose when we were as dominant as we were winning 3-0 there not so long ago. I enjoy this team and I think the fans do as well. Aa long as they keep working hard and are as brave as we try to be with the ball, then you should enjoy watching this team dominating matches and hopefully finding a way to win.

"But sometimes you need the guy up top to stick the ball in the back of the net and we are trying hard to make that happen. Let’s see what happens.

“But if the fans see a team working hard and playing good football, I don’t feel I can do anything else. If the results don’t come and they turn on the team, they will be well within their rights and that will be down to frustration.

"What I know is that I can only coach the team the way I want to play football and all the teams I have managed try to play with the ball rather than without it. I think we did that well last year.

“Southampton may be one of the more difficult ones. It will be interesting to see the stats and who has more of the ball. They may have more of it but a lot of that could be in their own half inviting us to press them.”