MARTIN O’Neill believes variety can be the spice of life as his Sunderland team look to break the ‘big five’s’ stranglehold on the FA Cup.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and holders Manchester City have dominated the competition between them since Everton’s shock triumph in 1995, with only Portsmouth in 2008 breaking up the exclusive club.

O’Neill, raised on memories of Sunderland’s class of 73, insists a winner from outside of the five could serve to reinvigorate the tournament as his side prepares for tomorrow’s Wear-Tees derby with Middlesbrough.

He said: “Would it make it better for the competition?

“Despite all we have said about teams not taking it as seriously as they did before, that tends to be sides who are concerned about relegation and I understand that.

“The most important part is for a club to retain Premier League status, so from that point if you think about missing out on a competition you think you might not go much further in anyway then that is your view.”

Having surged past Peterborough in the third round to set up tomorrow’s tie with Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light, the Northern Irishman insisted the Black Cats would go full tilt as they look to take their improved league form into the knock-out format. O’Neill added: “We have won two games and eased our position a little, but I am hoping my view would have been the same towards the competition even if we were still in the bottom three.”

With their last cup final appearance coming almost two decades ago with a 2-0 loss to Liverpool in 2012, the manager reinforced his belief silverware of any form remains vital for the morale of the paying public.

He said: “It is maybe as much to do with the club as anything else.

“The club has a good old history. Its record has not been that fantastic over the last 20 years, but overall the fans pay their money to come and support the team and we should go as strongly as we can.”