We can spring a surprise, says Ricky Sbragia

May 22 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

RICKY Sbragia will give his Sunderland players a history lesson to convince them they can escape relegation the right way this weekend.

Beating Chelsea at home on Sunday is the only way the Black Cats can guarantee their Premier League status for another season. Failure to do so will leave them hoping that Newcastle United and Hull City cannot win their matches.

Sbragia, though, is confident his players can look after themselves. If that sounds a tall order, more unlikely escapes have happened before.

One of the greatest came in May 2000 when Bradford City went into the final day in an even more parlous position. The Bantams kicked off in the relegation zone, needing a better result against Liverpool than Wimbledon managed at Southampton. Bradford won, while the Dons lost.

"I’m confident we’ll stay up and we’ve got to go and do it," Sbragia said. "I can remember nobody giving Bradford a hope in hell against Liverpool and they won 1-0, so it can always happen. We’ve got to be braver and hope Chelsea have a bad game and maybe the cup final on their minds."

While there is much talk of what side Manchester United might select at Hull three days before the European Cup final, it has largely gone unnoticed that Chelsea could employ some squad rotation of their own six days before the FA Cup final. As with the Red Devils, though, Sbragia believes whatever side they field will do the club justice.

"They’re an excellent team and I don’t know what kind of side they’ll play," he said. "I hope they do play a weakened team. There’ll be players trying to get that place in the FA Cup final so I think they’ll be professional, that’s why they’ve got to the level they’re at.

"It’s our cup final on Sunday and we’ve got to deal with it. We’ll work on a formation which will win us the game and deal with the problems we’ll have when Chelsea are in possession. It’s time we took our chance."

Chelsea might have been preparing to face Manchester United in Rome in midweek had it not been for the stunning injury-time goal by Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta which knocked them out of the Champions League.

"I was gutted for Chelsea," Sbragia recalled. "You look at all the things ahead thinking about if they had been playing Wednesday and then in the FA Cup final the following Saturday. I was disappointed because they never got to the final and they deserved to. Circumstances went against them that day."

Sunderland would already be safe, had they won a game they had the better of at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park on Monday. The 3-1 defeat – after leading 1-0 – was just one of a number of spurned opportunities which have frustrated the Scot.

"I thought we’d get over that line and fortunately for us the clubs under us haven’t taken their chances," he said.

"Our fate’s always been in our own hands but we haven’t taken it. There will be twists and turns on the last day but hopefully it doesn’t go against us. We don’t want to be looking at other results."

Steed Malbranque is a doubt, having gone off with a thigh complaint against Pompey.

"If the game was today, Steed could not have played," Sbragia revealed yesterday. "He is still sore and finding it painful, even walking. He made a run at Portsmouth and we noticed he struggled to get back.

"We are not sure exactly what it is, but it is painful at the top of his thigh, in the hip area. Hopefully it will heal by the weekend."

Left-back George McCartney is pushing for inclusion after a behind- closed-doors game this week.

"George had a practice game on Tuesday with the reserves and the only concern is he’s been out that long," said Sbragia.

McCartney’s last competitive game was for Northern Ireland in March. In his absence, Sunderland have settled on a back four of Phil Bardsley, Anton Ferdinand, Calum Davenport and Danny Collins which was found wanting on the south coast earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s interim coach Guus Hiddink has promised Sunderland’s relegation rivals that he will not rest many of his top stars on Sunday.

"I don’t want to rest a lot of people because they need to maintain their physical shape and also the way we want them to play," said Hiddink. "If I rest too many people, then I don’t think it’s good preparation for Wembley."