Ricky Sbragia hoping Teemu Tainio fit to play at Portsmouth

May 13 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

RICKY Sbragia will be keeping his fingers crossed that Teemu Tainio’s fragile frame is ready for another 90 minutes of football at Portsmouth on Monday.

The Finnish midfielder was Sunderland’s star performer in last week’s 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers. He brought a calmness to the Black Cats’ engine room and a touch of class with his passing, as well as allowing the players around him greater freedom to express themselves offensively.

So it was a concern when the 29-year-old left the field after 79 minutes following a knock to his ankle.

The substitution was precautionary and Sunderland are confident the problem will not keep him out of Monday’s televised trip to Fratton Park, but it emphasised how susceptible to injury Tainio has been during his time on Wearside.

Since joining from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, he has started just 16 league games, coming on as a substitute in a further three.

Sbragia says his decision to replace Tainio at the weekend was an acknowledgement of his importance.

“He gives us that Premier League experience when he sits in there,” said the Sunderland manager. “Deano (Tainio’s midfield partner Dean Whitehead) did well against Bolton, too.

“It is a concern when Tainio is wavering over saying he has a little problem. I don’t want him to carry on with it because he has a long-standing knee problem. But when he plays we tend to play better and keep the ball better.”

Tainio has no concerns over being fit for next week’s crucial game against Portsmouth.

“I was fine,” he told the club’s

official website. “I’d knocked my ankle a little bit but it (his substitution) was the manager’s choice.”

Sunderland could go into that match behind both Newcastle United and Hull City, who play Fulham and Bolton respectively before the Black Cats are next in action. If Hull were to lose – something they have made a habit of since the turn of the year – a point on the South Coast would effectively guarantee Sunderland’s top-flight status for another season thanks to their vastly superior goal difference.

Whatever happens, Sbragia will be anxious not to go into the final day of the season needing to get anything at home to a Chelsea side who will be formidable opponents, even with an FA Cup final appearance awaiting them six days later.

Tainio’s transfer is one of many deals struck between Sunderland and Tottenham in recent years.