Sbragia was sitting in the stands at Goodison Park on November 24 last year after accepting Roy Keane’s offer of employment on Wearside.

But after witnessing his first game as a member of Keane’s staff, he wondered if he had made the right decision to leave Bolton for the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland were 2-0 down within 17 minutes and were eventually trounced 7-1, prompting Sbragia to contact Wanderers boss Gary Megson.

He said with a smile: “I was sitting up in the stand wondering what was happening. I was thinking about not joining Sunderland after that, to be honest with you.

“I actually sent a message back to Gary Megson asking if the job was still available.

“He said, ’You have got some defending to do’, and that was it.

“We were too open as a team that day. We conceded four goals right down the middle, so defensively, we were poor.

“We were depressed because it was a hammering. To be fair, it could have been more.

“But we could have scored a couple – it could have ended up maybe 12-3 on the day.

“That was the first time I joined Sunderland at Everton, so it would be nice to go back there and get something from the game.”

Thirteen months or so on, Sbragia will return to Goodison Park having taken up the reins.

A narrow defeat at Manchester United was followed by thumping victories over West Brom and Hull, and while yesterday’s 0-0 home draw with Blackburn came as a disappointment, the 52-year-old was philosophical as he looked ahead.

Allardyce, the initial favourite for the Sunderland job, arrived on Wearside having instead been installed as Paul Ince’s successor at Blackburn, and left with a point which really should have been three.

But for an astonishing miss in injury time and two superb saves from keeper Marton Fulop, Rovers would have inflicted a sixth home defeat in 10 league matches so far this season on Sunderland despite the fact they perhaps enjoyed the greater share of possession.

For once, strikers Djibril Cisse and Kenwyne Jones, who had scored five times between them in the previous two games, were unusually subdued, and Sbragia admitted he may play just one of them at Everton as the demands of the holiday period take their toll.

He said: “It is a problem – it’s the main problem: who do we play up front?

“Djibril likes to play on his own – Kenwyne can do that, but Djibril gives us a little bit extra, he gives us that pace over the top.

“One the one hand, we want them to play together and get some sort of continuity, but you are also going into the game thinking about possibly dropping one.

“But there’s a reason for that. We have got to make a decision about how we go.”

Whatever his decision on that front, Sbragia knows his side faces a tough test against an Everton side which climbed into sixth place in the table courtesy of yesterday’s 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

He said: “David Moyes has got an excellent team there. They are very resilient as a team.

“They got a great result on Friday against Middlesbrough and we know Sunday’s game is going to be very difficult for us.”