Alan Curbishley rumours denied by Niall Quinn

Apr 17 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

“We’re planning ahead and I trust him.

“He rang me up but I said don’t bother, the last thing on my mind is Alan Curbishley. He said ‘It’s a load of crap’.

“They’ll make the decision and I think I’d be the first to know before anything and I’d trust him to do that but there’s no plans for that at present, we’re planning ahead and looking forward to next year.”

Rumours surrounding the futures of key players and the manager himself are an unnecessary side issue as Sunderland prepare for a game that Sbragia accepts is a must-win fixture.

Failure to do so in either this weekend’s crunch “six-pointer” or Sunderland’s visit to basement side West Brom would crank up the pressure on Sbragia – who accepts that he cannot expect to retain Quinn’s confidence if results continue to go against his team. But, with crucial games arriving thick and fast, Sbragia said he has little time to dwell on speculation.

“We’ve got to focus on moving up the table. I’ve got to carry on,” he said.

“I don’t know whether any manager in the Premier League would be safe in their jobs, the majority are living day-by-day but you’ve got to plan ahead and if it happens, it happens if it doesn’t you carry on.”

Kieran Richardson is back in training and expected to play against Hull, while Nyron Nosworthy and Dean Whitehead are also pushing hard for recalls following spells on the sidelines.

That leaves only left-back George McCartney and striker David Healy definitively ruled out for the visit of relegation rivals Hull.

“It’s important we get Nyron match fit because he’s been out for a while. We’ll get him in today and see if there’s any effects from the reserve game but I think he’ll be in the squad,” he said.

“Its a good headache if we have Kieran back. We don’t know how he’s going to be but yesterday was his first day back with the group so we’ll see how he goes.”