WITH today's game with Aston Villa offering the prospect of back-to-back wins for the first time since January and a possible return to the Premier League's top ten, Steve Bruce is hoping to finally draw a line under Sunderland's acrimonious start to the season.

A star player engineering a move to the United Arab Emirates on loan, supporters calling for their manager's head, a dispiriting home derby defeat to Newcastle and just two wins from their opening ten matches - it has not been an easy two-and-a-half months for the Black Cats.

Nevertheless, a win today would put Sunderland on to 12 points, exactly the same total as they boasted at an identical stage of last season.

That campaign finished with the club claiming only their third top-ten finish in the space of 50 years, and with last weekend's 2-0 win at Bolton having settled a few nerves, Bruce is hoping victory over Villa will lead to a sense of equilibrium being restored.

"I would hope it would draw a line under things," said the Black Cats boss. "I am going to have my doubters, I've had them from day one. I accept that, fair enough.

"But a win would put us in a really strong position. We'd be in the top ten with a quarter of the season gone. What is all the fuss about?

"I will not allow us to be sidetracked. We are on the right path and I have a really good group here, the best I have had."Perhaps we still need that little bit of stardust, but the squad of players I have is excellent. They all have a great mentality."

Last weekend's second-half performance at the Reebok Stadium certainly represented a marked improvement from many of Sunderland's displays this season, with goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner securing a first away victory.

Bendtner played alongside Connor Wickham for the first time seven days ago, and the pair are set to continue in an unchanged starting line-up this afternoon.

Wickham is slowly finding his feet following a £6.1m summer move from Ipswich, and having spent much of the season unsuccessfully trying to mould a one-man attack, Bruce is hoping to see further evidence of a developing partnership between his two leading centre-forwards.

"Can they play together in the long term? Why not," he said. "One thing is certain, they're a real handful. They're quick for their size, mobile and they're both six foot three or four. There's no reason why they can't gel."

For most of his time at Arsenal, Bendtner was regarded as the junior striker behind the likes of Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry.

Suddenly, he finds himself having assumed senior status, and he is determined to do all he can to help Wickham successfully adapt to life in the Premier League.

As an established England Under-21 international, Wickham clearly boasts considerable potential. The challenge for Bendtner and the rest of the Sunderland squad is to help create an environment in which the 18-year-old can flourish.

"I feel like a senior striker now," said Bendtner, who has scored in his last two appearances against West Brom and Bolton. "I see it as my role to help other players if I can."Going through the things I've been though from an early age has taught me a lot. If I can pass any of that on to the guys coming through, I hope it will be a big help.

"To be fair here, the strikers seem to be quite mature already in the way they think and do things. But if there is anything I can help with, we try to help each other out."I've been playing with Connor for a few weeks in training and I try to talk to him and help him when I can."

* Sunderland defender Nyron Nosworthy has joined Championship side Watford on loan until January.

The versatile 31-year-old, whose last senior appearance for the Black Cats came in January 2010, goes straight into the Watford squad for today's game with Peterborough.