Sunderland V Burnley - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.Poyet focused on Clarets clashSunderland head coach Gus Poyet has challenged his players to make Saturday's Barclays Premier League showdown with Burnley the turning point in their season.The Uruguayan was left with more questions than answers after seeing his team scrap out a 0-0 FA Cup fourth-round draw with Sky Bet Championship Fulham at the weekend in front of a deeply unimpressed home crowd at the Stadium of Light.A replay on February 3 will give them a further chance to progress in a competition which added Manchester City and Chelsea to the list of top-flight casualties on a dramatic afternoon, but with just a single point separating them from the drop zone, the clash with fellow strugglers Burnley on Wearside represents a far more pivotal occasion.Poyet, who is still working on the new 3-5-2 system he has chosen to employ - in order to accommodate Jermain Defoe in a two-man frontline - said: "There are moments in the season where you have turning points, and the Burnley game is one of them, so it's an important week for us."The idea now is to first analyse the two games, Tottenham and this one, check really well if it's the way we want to go forward, train it, whatever we are going to do, next week and play first and foremost Burnley and winWe need to win."Ashley Barnes is hoping his knack of scoring important goals will help Burnley get one over on Sunderland and his old manager.Since breaking into the side at the start of November, Barnes has netted four times and earned seven points for the Clarets.His first goal against Hull ended Burnley's 10-game winless start to the season while he then scored the winner against Southampton before netting a spectacular equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City.Barnes made sure to seek out a DVD of his volley, which completed Burnley's unlikely comeback from 2-0 down at the Etihad Stadium, and unsurprisingly that is his favourite.He said: "They're all special but probably the Man City one
Playing against the champions, to get that equaliser was a good feeling."Barnes has been overshadowed by his strike partner Danny Ings, with Liverpool the latest side to be linked with a move for the England Under-21 player.But the 25-year-old's contribution to Burnley's revival should not be underestimated, with his physical style not winning him any friends among the Premier League's defences.Barnes moved to Turf Moor a year ago after almost four years with Brighton.It was Sunderland boss Poyet who signed him for the Seagulls as a 20-year-old and Barnes played under the Uruguayan for three years before the relationship between club and manager soured and he headed for the North East.Barnes has nothing but praise for Poyet but will be delighted if Burnley succeed in pushing his old boss closer to the bottom three on Saturday.He said: "We're friends now and friends before the game but as soon as you cross the line, there's a job to do
After the game I'm sure we'll have a drink or whatever."He's fantastic
What he did with us at Brighton was brilliant
Unfortunately he moved on and he's done well at Sunderland."They're in the bottom half like us but he's a great manager and his staff are good as well
I pay respect to them for starting my career at Brighton."We know they're going to be passing the ball and hopefully we can get them on the counter-attack."Boss Sean Dyche has no new injury worries for the clash
Source : PA
Source: PA