LIAM BRIDCUTT has identified Gus Poyet’s positive outlook as one of the key factors in enabling Sunderland to bounce back from last month’s eight-goal humiliation at Southampton.

Having suffered the joint-heaviest defeat in their club’s history at St Mary’s, Sunderland’s players found themselves in the Premier League relegation zone when their following game ended in another reverse at the hands of Arsenal.

However, in the two games since then, they have beaten Crystal Palace and drawn with Everton, and produced committed, industrious displays that have belied the notion that they lack the spirit and motivation required to climb the table.

Poyet’s role in the transformation has been crucial, with the Sunderland head coach refusing to dwell on events at Southampton or lose faith in the members of his squad.

There was plenty of anger in the immediate aftermath of last month’s 8-0 embarrassment, but the atmosphere on the training ground quickly returned to a more upbeat mood and Poyet went out of his way to ensure his players did not become too disheartened in the wake of such a catastrophic defeat.

“Everybody who knows the gaffer knows he’s the most positive person ever,” said Bridcutt, who previously worked under Poyet at Brighton. “He knows how to get the best out of players. In the two weeks leading up to the Palace game, it showed we’ve got a great manager and a great spirit amongst us.

“Most teams would probably have folded at Selhurst Park after everything we’d gone through, but we showed great determination to come back and do things right.

“Without a doubt, you need that positivity. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t positive all the time – he’s going to be annoyed after what happened, and he had the right to be annoyed.

“Most managers could have gone the other way, but he knows his players and knows what to do to get the best out of them.”

Having witnessed his side concede eight goals in the space of 74 manic minutes at Southampton, it is hardly surprising that Poyet made solidifying the defence a key priority over the course of the last fortnight.

A succession of injuries meant the Uruguayan’s starting line-up effectively picked itself against both Palace and Everton, and neither game witnessed a radical change in formation or style in an attempt to keep things tight at the back.

A greater degree of organisation has been discernible though, with Sunderland’s central midfielders and wide players running themselves into the ground in an attempt to provide some protection and support for the defenders playing behind them.

“The main thing has been becoming hard to beat again,” said Bridcutt. “With the Arsenal game, we really beat ourselves that day. It was one of those things where we made mistakes and they took advantage of it.

“But our standards are very high now. With the manager we’ve got, he sets his standards so high and that translates to the players. The players want to win every game, no matter who we’re playing, and that’s the mentality we’ve got now.”

Bridcutt returned to the starting line-up on Sunday in place of the suspended Lee Cattermole, and produced one of his most effective displays since moving to the Stadium of Light in January.

When he completed his £3m move, Bridcutt was touted as Cattermole’s permanent replacement, but his early displays in a Sunderland shirt were far from impressive and some personal issues relating to the birth of his child meant he was unavailable for some of the second half of last season.

Prior to Sunday, his only starts this term had come in the Capital One Cup, but aside from one errant back-pass that almost left Romelu Lukaku with a clear run on goal, he returned to exert a major influence at the heart of the Black Cats’ midfield.

Whether that is sufficient to get him the nod ahead of Cattermole when Sunderland return to face Leicester City after the international break remains to be seen, but at least he has provided a reminder of the qualities that persuaded Poyet to sign him during last winter’s transfer window.

“I thought he was really, really good,” said Poyet. “I asked him personally that we needed a very good performance from him, and someone to cope with the absence of Lee Cattermole.

“He stood up – tackles, strength, positioning – and he was always in the game, which was very important for us. It gives us possibilities because sooner or later, you will put yourself in the team.”

* League Two side Luton Town are close to agreeing a deal with former Sunderland youth captain Lewis Gibbons, who recently completed a two-year ban for drugs.

Gibbons was released by the Black Cats after testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine and cannabis while he was a part of the club’s academy set-up in September 2012.

His scholarship contract at the Academy of Light was withdrawn, and at the time, academy director Ged McNamee said: “Lewis not only let our club down, he let himself and his team-mates down massively.”

The 20-year-old recently completed his two-year suspension, and returned to football with Northern League club Durham City last month.

He was offered a one-week trial with Luton after making four appearances for Durham, and Hatters boss John Still has confirmed the club are close to agreeing a permanent contract.

“He’s a young boy, but someone that I know well, and he was very highly-rated as a young man at Sunderland,” said Still. “Like lots of young men, he did something really stupid.

“Well, we’ve all done stupid things, but for two years the boy has done nothing but training and waiting to see if he can get back into the game.”