View from the dugout... MON - All to play for 'We want to finish strongly...we might as well go forward, throw off the shackles and go for it.' Martin O'Neill has shrugged off any notion of Sunderland treading water and says their season is still very much alive. The Black Cats boss is focused on achieving as high a finish as possible with his side in the thick of the battle for seventh position, currently occupied by Everton with city rivals Liverpool just behind them. Sunderland, who sit ninth, host Tottenham on Saturday before facing the Toffees on Easter Monday for the third time in less than a month. O'Neill's men snapped Manchester City's 20-game home league winning streak with a 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, and the Sunderland boss is looking to keep the momentum going this weekend with plenty still to play for. "If we had gone to City and been well and truly beaten, people might have said 'that's it, Sunderland's season is now over'," he told safc.com. "From that viewpoint we've kept everything alive and we want to finish strongly. The confidence gained from that performance must be immense and it's something very positive to take into the Tottenham game." He continued: "I always think there is pressure no matter what the game is. "The significant thing in the modern-day game with such high stakes is that every position is important. "We've still hovering around eighth or ninth, but we could finish 15th. From that viewpoint it's still very important for ourselves. "If I reflect on the few months I've had, of course we're sitting here with a little bit of sunshine coming through thinking we're in a good position because we've staved off relegation. "Now we've done that, we might as well go forward, throw off the shackles and go for it." Saturday's opponents are in the midst of a battle for Champions' League qualification and are separated from third-placed London rivals Arsenal only on goal difference. In-form Chelsea are chasing hard in fifth position and O'Neill says qualification would cap a superb season for Harry Redknapp's men. "They have some super players - [Rafael] van der Vaart is in fantastic form and is a really fine player," he said. "You could go right through the team. "To their great credit they have put a side together which is easy to watch but very strong and competitive. "For instance, [Emmanuel] Adebayor on loan has been an excellent acquisition for them. Their season has really been terrific."
Hard one to call, on the bright side if we do lose it puts spurs 5 points clear of Newcastle. Hoping for a win but I have a feeling Spurs will put on a show tomorrow 0-2
Really hope you lot stuff Spuds tomorrow, play like you did against Citeh and I don't see any reason why you can't do us a favour
Harry Says TEAM NEWS - SUNDERLAND (A) Posted 06 April 2012 12:27am Harry Redknapp reports no additional injury concerns ahead of tomorrow's trip to Sunderland. We travel to the Stadium of Light for a 12.45pm kick-off on Saturday before returning to the Lane and Norwich at 3pm on Monday. Aaron Lennon was the latest player to return from injury last weekend and that only leaves Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson (both ankle) on the missing list. “We’re not too bad, really,” said Harry before training on Friday. “We haven’t got too many injuries. “Most of the lads who have been fit are okay. We’ve a couple of long-term injuries, but we’ve more or less the squad from last week.”
Got to say very rarely cheer you guys on for obvious reasons but please win tomorrow, looking at the run ins for Tottenham and Arsenal we need all the help we can get. Though think this game will be a 1 - 1 draw.
Spurs are an absolutely cracking side, but like a few, I have a hopefully not misplaced confidence for this one. 2-1 the lads I think.
Still using the 5 and 1 eh... And your lot always tell us history means nowt, when we bring up league titles...
1-1. Can't see us scoring 2 against Spurs. They're playing well. I think we'll concede also. 1-1 Bendtner for us, Adebayor for them.