Before
Fulham have cost me £150 in recent years as I have a regular £50 bet with my Fulham-supporting mate that we'll finish above them. We're currently eight points ahead of them and it's looking good that I'll be getting some money back at the end of the season. Since Roy Hodgson's departure they've clearly gone off the boil and I'm confident that we'll get at least a point this afternoon. I've always admired Hangeland, and Duff caused us a lot of problems in the same match last season but without Zamora I can't see them causing much damage. Ferdinand's confidence should be on the up after his good show last week and as long as Mensah's playing, I'll be feeling a lot less worried about our central defence than I did after the Wolves match. I'm not bothered about the possibility of Gordon not playing as he's been unusually flappy of late while Mignolet was consistently great after his initial match or two. Gyan will always be a loss as he not only scores great goals but usually shows class and inventiveness all over the pitch. We had our Christmas dinner last night and as I took my seat next to one of my Ghanaian colleagues he said, “Sit down, Asamoah Gyan.” I think I'm slowly persuading him to become a Sunderland fan and if Gyan and Mensah continue to perform as they have so far, he should be one of the faithful before long. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.

After
This was no bore draw and for much of the game it was real end-to-end stuff. Too many of Fulham's final passes went astray, much to the loud dismay of their fans many of whom booed them off at half-time. We had a number of good chances, none better than with two minutes before the end when Bolo put Benty through but his shot went just wide when he looked certain to score. This was just after Bolo looked to have taken the ball full whack in his balls, or maybe elsewhere, and no fewer than eight medical assistants with a stretcher, bags full of gear and all sorts had hovered over his prostrate form for several minutes and things were looking really grim for him. I was sitting right near the front in a Fulham area near the end holding our fans and the match felt really close. I could smell the pitch and I was sure Steed smiled at me as he and the other subs crouched down for a while between bouts of that dancey trotting number they do up the touchline when they're warming up. The man of the match for me was undoubtedly Mensah as he won almost everything that came his way and was the proverbial tower of strength. Ferdinand played really well for the eight minutes or so he actually played and he got a good ripple from our fans as he walked back to the Cottage after being injured. He must hate playing at Fulham as he went off injured in the first-half last season too. As the Fulham announcer didn't bother to read out our team I was puzzled for about ten minutes till I finally realized that Meyler was on for us. I'd assumed that Gyan was injured and was pleasantly surprised to see him come on for Meyler eight minutes after the break. Something I've loved this season is seeing players of the quality of Gyan, Steed, Bolo and Elmo coming on as subs and adding their special qualities. Welbeck was subbed after sustaining an injury so let's hope it's not too serious. Mignolet dealt well with most of what came his way and some healthy competition between him and Gordon can only be good for us. As the final whistle went after five minutes of stoppage-time there was loud applause from our end and I was happy too. The chant of the day award must go to “There's only one Mike Ashley” while I have to say that watching about a hundred seagulls swirling around above the Thames and diving for scraps of food was the best half-time entertainment I've ever seen. Bring on Bolton.

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