Under-pressure Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is determined to provide owner Ellis Short with a return on his investment in Tuesday night's relegation showdown with Bolton.

The Texan businessman will sit in the stands at the Stadium of Light as the club he is currently bankrolling attempts to secure a first league win in 15 attempts.

Chairman Niall Quinn last week revealed that Short had converted £48million in loans into shares and provided the funds to recruit the likes of Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole, Lorik Cana and Michael Turner last summer.

But as he takes his seat on Tuesday night, he will do so with his club sitting just three points clear of the relegation zone and in severe danger of being sucked into the mire if they do not end a sequence of Premier League games without victory which dates back to November 21.

That scenario was never in the blueprint for Bruce's first season at the helm and looked a remote possibility after a promising start, and the manager is grateful for the continuing support he enjoys from the boardroom.

He said: "What the owner has done in the last 12 months is nothing short of incredible. It's fantastic support.

"We all in football want an owner and a chairman like I have got, and it's not been easy for any of us.

"But when you are in it and you are in a bad run, that's when you need the support of your owner and your chairman and I have to say, the pair of them have been fantastic.

"I have to give them something, and especially the owner. What he has done for this club in the short period of time he has been here is fantastic.

"He does everything properly. He doesn't go shouting and bawling in the newspapers, and fair play to him."

Sunderland head into the game having collected only 27 points from the same number of games to date and needing, in the former Manchester United defender's estimation, to continue to at least maintain that ratio over their remaining 11 fixtures if they are to prolong their stay in the top flight.

Bruce said: "We must try to get to 38, 40 points - that way, then you will be safe, I am pretty convinced about that.

"This season has been unbelievable, but usually, it's enough. Last year, 35 was enough, but this year, I am looking at 38 hopefully being enough."

Not since Arsenal left Wearside empty-handed at the end of November have Bruce and his players been able to celebrate a league win, and that has seen confidence dwindle on the pitch and the 49-year-old lose sleep off it.

He said: "If somebody had told be we wouldn't win a game in winter, I would have said they were crazy, but that's where we find ourselves.

"We had the best start in 35 years, and we haven't won a game for three months.

"That's there for everybody to see, but it's how we keep responding.

"You can just lie down and go away, or you can keep trying to do what you believe in and I am still convinced we can be okay."

Injuries continue to hinder the Black Cats, who now have a full complement of defenders, but have seen their midfield resources decimated over the last week or so.

Andy Reid and Jordan Henderson are close to returns from hamstring and ankle problems respectively, but the Bolton game may come just too soon, while Kieran Richardson is struggling with a new calf injury and Cattermole has a hamstring-related issue which is proving difficult to resolve.