Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole admits they were staring down the barrel before Martin O'Neill's arrival.

Cattermole admits Sunderland were "struggling" after a tough start, which resulted in the departure of Steve Bruce in late November.

He said the change took "a couple of days" to adjust to, but it was onwards and upwards when O'Neill assumed the manager's chair.

"It has definitely been a long season and maybe one which most of us didn't expect," Cattermole told safc.com.

"Going into the season we signed a lot of good players but sometimes it takes time for them to gel as a team.

"Early on we played well for long spells but couldn't score and we weren't seeing games out. We lost confidence as a team.

"We started great at Liverpool with a draw and played Newcastle off the park only to lose.

"Things like that can change your season and from then on we really struggled to get back on track.

"That resulted in Steve Bruce going, but we knew we had to pick ourselves up. It was the first time I've lost a manager in mid-season and it took a few days to get my head around, but I knew I had to impress again.

"Martin brought a massive lift to the place, and if you look at the results after he took over it showed what an impact he had.

"He gave all the lads the confidence boost they needed and the fans got right behind us. With that we went from strength to strength."