David Fox insists the life of the modern footballer has its downsides.

City's playing squad are getting used to sharing the Premier League spotlight with some of the biggest names in the business, but Fox admits having to bide your time from game to game is an art in itself.

The cultured midfielder returned with a bang in last weekend's opening win at Bolton after a watching brief for City's three previous top flight games. Fox created both Norwich City's first half goals in a classy outing alongside Bradley Johnson at the Reebok Stadium – but the 27-year-old realises that is no guarantee of a start against Sunderland on Monday.

'You've got to try and stay professional and wait for your chance,' he said. 'There are plenty of games this season. I think I missed three and it felt like an eternity, but you've got to realise that there are a lot of games and there is a lot of competition for places, and you've got to be ready to step up when needed to perform, and that's what everyone in the group is about really.

'The lads that aren't playing know that their chance could be just around the corner and they need to produce when called upon.

'It keeps everyone on their toes, knowing you're only one game away from not playing, or a game away from being in the team.

'Things turn around in football very quickly, and everyone needs to make sure they're ready to be called upon. The manager has said that from day one, and that is the case with every member of the squad.'

Fox knows the pressure is on to perform when that chance comes along.

'You want to be able to stamp your authority on games, and put your marker down for when you are playing,' he said.

'So I'm delighted with that obviously, but it doesn't guarantee games for the next few games, because as I said there's a lot of competition.

'You're always wanting to get your first win, and get those three points on the boards, and definitely the lads are a lot more relaxed, there's a lot better atmosphere around the place, and now we've got that win under our belts – which our performances have deserved.

'It just shows there's nothing to fear now we've got that weight off our shoulders, and now we can go and turn those good performances into three points which we need. If we can go to places like Bolton and win it gives everyone a massive confidence boost going into the next few games.'

Fox is backing the Black Cats to recover from a patchy start to the new campaign after hammering his boyhood club Stoke 4-0 last weekend.

'They're a very good team, I think they're starting to gel a bit now,' he said. 'They've got a lot of new players in but I think they'll do well this season. They've got some very good players and we know it'll be a tough test, but like I say we're at home, and we need to start turning these good home performances into three points. They will be top class players, whoever is playing for Sunderland. They've got a massive squad and they've got a big budget. They've brought in some very good players in the summer, so we know it'll be a tough game for us. We'll do our homework on them, we'll know what their strengths are, and we'll do our best and try to bring the type of performance to show the home fans that we deserve to be where we are and we can beat teams like Sunderland.'

Fox and the rest of his team-mates will train this morning before stepping up preparations for the unfamiliar Monday night kick-off time.

'I'll look forward to watching the results coming in on the Saturday. After training in the morning we'll watch the results come in,' he said.

'It's a bit strange at the minute, we've got a few Sunday games and Monday games, but it's all part and parcel of being in the Premier League, with Europe and stuff, but we'll play on the Monday night and hopefully put in a good performance.'