Turner expects more tough games

Saturday's game at the Stadium of Light was the first seen as winnable for the Black Cats but anyone expecting 12 points from the games against Fulham - which are followed by home games with Wigan and Blackburn and a trip to Wolves sandwiched in between - were left disappointed as Martin Jol's side emerged with a hard-earned 0-0 draw. Turner said: "People have made a lot of these four games that we have got and think we should be winning them all, but they are all tough games. "It doesn't matter who you are playing, home or away, it's a tough game in the Premier League. "Fulham have got some very experienced Premier League players. We knew it was going to be a tough game and I felt we slightly edged it and we did deserve to win the game, but we didn't do so. "But we need to keep cracking on." On the balance of chances created, Sunderland probably did deserve to collect three points, something they have done only twice in 14 attempts on Wearside since New Year's Day. But having been twice denied by the woodwork before the break, they were left to rue a stunning injury-time save by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer which prevented Stephane Sessegnon from claiming a last-gasp winner. Turner said: "The two chances we had early on which hit the woodwork were probably two of our best chances, and sometimes when they don't go in, you start to think, 'Is it not going to be our day?'. "But we kept going. We probably didn't create as many chances in the second half as we would have liked, but we kept a clean sheet, so we can take positives from that and move on." Midfielders Kieran Richardson and Jack Colback were the unfortunate men in a lively start by the home side. Richardson clipped the top of Schwarzer's crossbar with a ninth-minute header, and then saw Colback rattle the bar again with a shot on the turn after he had blocked Damien Duff's attempted clearance. But for all that Steve Bruce's men enjoyed the better of the first half, the visitors too had good opportunities to take the lead. Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood had to beat away a well-struck Mousa Dembele shot with seven minutes gone, but was indebted to skipper Lee Cattermole for clearing Dickson Etuhu's header off the line in first-half injury time. The Black Cats continued to enjoy plenty of possession after the break but lacked the necessary cutting edge, and as they piled forward in search of a winner they left gaps at the back. Danny Murphy shot straight at Westwood, who later had to make a smart save from Chris Baird, while substitute Andrew Johnson and Clint Dempsey both fired across the face of the goal. But deep into injury time, Schwarzer had to come to Fulham's rescue when Sessegnon worked his way into a shooting position and went for goal. The Australia international looked to have his effort covered until it took a deflection off central defender Philippe Senderos, but the 39-year-old somehow managed to re-adjust and save with his leg. Bruce's striking department has undergone significant rebuilding work in the wake of Darren Bent's departure for Aston Villa in January, Danny Welbeck's return to Manchester United and Asamoah Gyan's defection to the United Arab Emirates, and the manager admitted the gaps are proving difficult to plug with summer signing Connor Wickham having joined the injured list. He said: "For all the good stuff we did today, that main thing of scoring a goal is why they are so expensive, why they are very difficult to get, and that's what we are missing. "The one thing we missed was just the final stuff. Sessegnon was terrific all day, but we needed to score a goal and unfortunately, it wasn't to be." Fulham boss Martin Jol admitted his side had probably not deserved the victory they had craved as they attempt to drag themselves out of the lower reaches of the table. He said: "It is not always easy to play in the Premier League away from home and today, we could have nicked it. "It would maybe not have been deserved, but if you are in the situation that you keep a clean sheet, especially after the first 20 minutes, you can always come away with a win, and that's what I hoped for today. "But it wasn't to be because they [Sunderland] were good."