PARADOXICALLY, Steve Cotterill's five months at the Stadium of Light were the darkest days of his life.

It was October 2002 when the ambitious young manager made the tough decision to leave Stoke City after only 13 games in charge to accept Sunderland's offer to team up with Howard Wilkinson on Wearside.

Unveiled as the 'dream team' to take the Black Cats forward, things quickly began to take a turn for the worse on the pitch.

But it was the tragic death of Cotterill's mother, Trish, that still scars a period in his life he will never forget, but one which also drives him on to become a better person.

"Whenever you talk about Sunderland I relate to my mum dying at 56," recalled Cotterill.

"You don't expect to lose your mum at 56, so it was probably the hardest five months of my life.

"It was tough all round and, although I don't think I've ever lost my drive for football, some of the bad experiences in your life can make you a better person and probably more humble.

"Now I look back and think we could all make better decisions with hindsight. Things didn't work out on the pitch, but that happens to a lot of managers.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if we all had it, it would be a boring place, wouldn't it?"

Perhaps wires got crossed when Wilkinson was unveiled to a stunned Sunderland public with Cotterill as his assistant.

Certainly passionate supporters had been hoping for a more charismatic manager, while right-hand man Cotterill's impressive lower-league credentials were quickly forgotten amid the incredulity of Wilkinson's own appointment.

And even the fiercely driven Burnley boss, who built a reputation as one of the brightest young minds in the game by masterminding Cheltenham's remarkable rise, admits the trip north was made with one eye firmly fixed on being a future Black Cats boss.

He said: "The lure of Sunderland was not to go and be an assistant, but, as I understand it, with a view to be manager in my own right in time.

"It didn't work out and that's okay - that's their prerogative. With that hindsight it was the wrong move, despite what was going on in the background at Stoke.

"I didn't even know Howard before I went to Sunderland, although he had seen my work on residential coaching weekends.

"People think he took me to Sunderland as a friend, but I didn't know him before the courses.

"I think he saw my work, decided to take me on and unfortunately it didn't work out."

Cotterill's first return since being dismissed in March 2003 comes tomorrow in the battle of two in-form sides.

The Black Cats, who have won seven of their last nine league games, face a mean Burnley outfit with five wins in seven behind them.

However, an untimely one-match ban will deny the Clarets chief the chance to patrol the touchline and mastermind what must surely be a longed-for victory.

"I haven't got anything to hide because I worked my socks off up there and I'll walk out there anyhow when the boys are warming up," insisted Cotterill.

"The Stadium of Light is a wonderful stadium packed full of very, very passionate fans, who really, really support their team.

"Expectations are high, but it's better to have supporters expecting you to win every week than get beat, so I'm actually looking forward to going back up there."

At least the game will provide a welcome distraction to the sideshow surrounding Robbie Blake and his footballing future.

Despite Wigan now having FOUR bids rejected in the past two weeks, speculation that the Championship leaders refuse to give up the chase continues unabated.

The timing of the latest £1m bid could not have come at a worst time, with Cotterill trying to focus minds on the tough task ahead of them in the north east.

But Blake put all the transfer tittle-tattle behind him last week to score a brilliant brace to see off Preston North End.

And the Clarets chief hopes Wigan's latest attempt to prise the striker away from Turf Moor will spark a similar reaction.

Cotterill said: "Things have been pretty good for us lately and we've had a few good wins that have put us right up in contention.

"But with the disruptions that have been going on, I think it's a credit to my staff and how they've carried on coaching - and also a credit to the players - to carry on doing what they've been doing.

"At the moment I'd rather read about Robbie getting the headlines for scoring goals for us than about everything else.

"I just hope he carries on scoring goals for us!"