No excuses for Portsmouth defeat says Ricky Sbragia

May 19 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

SUNDERLAND’S Premier League fate will be decided on the final day of the season after they failed to take numerous opportunities early last night to secure their safety.

If Newcastle United beat Aston Villa and Hull City triumph over an under-strength Manchester United, the Black Cats will need to beat Chelsea to play in next season’s top-flight.

It is an uncomfortable situation they could have avoided with victory over Portsmouth.

But despite taking the lead and creating the lion’s share of chances against a home side whose own safety was secure, they contrived to lose 3-1.

The Wearsiders had cause to rue their luck but under-fire manager Ricky Sbragia was refusing to fall back on excuses after the defeat.

The turning point of the game came in the seconds after Kenwyne Jones opened the scoring for the Wearsiders.

Portsmouth’s response was instant, equalising through John Utaka. Referee Alan Wiley blew for a foul on the midfielder by Calum Davenport before the ball hit the back of the net, but allowed the goal to stand.

Sbragia, though, had no complaints.

“They said he (referee Alan Wiley) might have blown but he’s given it and it’s a goal,” he commented.

“They’d have probably scored from the penalty anyway knowing our luck.

“I don’t have any problems with it.”

Sbragia, however, accepted that his players need to show a better approach on Sunday.

“We came here thinking we could get

something, started well and passed it brightly,” he said. “I do believe we’ll stay up. The other teams have got tough games. We’ve got to go out on Sunday and be stronger than we were today.”

Portsmouth’s second and third goals – an own goal from Phil Bardsley and Armand Traore’s 88th-minute strike – both came on the counter-attack after Kieran Richardson, then Jones, wasted opportunities for Sunderland.

Although Jones can consider himself unfortunate with the first-half header which bounced off the inside of Asmir Begovic’s post and dribbled along the goalline, their wasteful finishing was symptomatic of the season.

“Same old story, not taking our chances came back to haunt us,” Sbragia said. “We went 1-0 ahead and really should have seen the game out from then on. But we didn’t do that.

“I thought their first goal was a bit lucky, but the second goal is a bad error and I think that killed us off to be honest with you.

“The second goal is bad, really bad. Anton should have put his foot through it but he’s tried to control it with the sole of his boot. He’s better than that to be honest with you and Utaka’s punished us. As soon as you make a mistake you get punished.

“I felt we created some decent chances in the second half but didn’t score them. It’s all about scoring goals and that has been a problem for us all season.”

Before the game, chairman Niall Quinn promised a “strategic review” on the completion of the season where Sbragia’s job will be the main topic of discussion. The Scot seemed relaxed about the prospect of potentially losing a job he was only given at Christmas.

“I don’t know anything about it, I’ll leave that to the chairman,” he said. “I just concentrate on the game. “I could win it (Sunday’s game) and be sacked, I could lose and be sacked, I could be knighted. Who knows?”

Meanwhile, David James will miss England’s summer programme with the shoulder injury which kept him out of last night’s game.

But Portsmouth manager Paul Hart was pleased to see his side triumph in their last game of the season at Fratton Park.

“The first half was a bit like watching paint dry, but we injected a little bit of life in the second half,” he said. “Obviously it’s been a very hard season, there’s a lot of tired legs, but they pushed themselves over the line.

“Sunderland battled right to the death, there were a few good saves from our keeper.”

Hart, however – acting as interim boss since Tony Adams’ sacking in February – refused to be drawn on whether he’ll be staying in the job.