Sunderland defender Michael Turner is confident of greater consistency with a settled back four.

After returning to the side, Turner has been part of an ever changing defensive unit in which seven players have featured in 11 league games and it's this inconsistency of selection through injury and suspension that the former Hull City defender sees as a principle component to Sunderland's indifferent start to the season:

"We've had changes in the back four throughout the start of the season and of course Anton (Ferdinand) started the season and has since gone.

"I feel it's crucial that for any side you have a settled team and that starts with the back-four. Over the last few weeks it's been that way and I think you can see that it's getting slowly better," he told safc.com.