Barclays Premier League
Venue: White Hart Lane Date: Monday, 7 April
Match Links: WIZIWIG LINKS
Sunderland captain John O'Shea believes it is time for the teams players to start taking responsibility for their own performances as they look for a vital win away to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday evening.
With only one point and three goals from their last six Barclays Premier League outings, the initial lift given to the club by Gus Poyet's arrival as head coach seems to have worn off, and the Uruguayan returns to the club where he spent three years as a player hoping for the win that could kick-start their survival push.
O'Shea says the players should look to themselves to improve their form. "You have to look at yourself and take things on board that you need to do better," he told The Sunderland Echo. "No player wants to get relegated. We're going to do everything we can to stop that. It's about Sunderland and making sure we continue our run of seven successive seasons in the Premier League."
Spurs' defence struggled to withstand the test when they went down 4-0 at Liverpool last weekend, which represented another blow to their hopes of qualifying for Europe. Head coach Tim Sherwood, who played alongside opposite number Poyet at Spurs, is desperate for a win on Monday to put their Anfield nightmare behind them.
"It's been a difficult week," he said. "We're all upset after Liverpool. We have to put it right and the way to do that is by winning on Monday. We have six games remaining and they're all cup finals. It's important for pride and for the fans. It's important we bounce back."
Sherwood will be boosted by the news that top scorer Emmanuel Adebayor is back in contention after a heel problem, as is defender Vlad Chiriches (back) and Paulinho (conjunctivitis). Missing for the hosts are Jan Vertonghen (knee), Roberto Soldado (ankle), Kyle Walker (groin) and Erik Lamela (back) while Sunderland are without Kieren Westwood (shoulder), and Steven Fletcher remains doubtful with an ankle problem.
Spurs from: Friedel, Gomes, Lloris, Chiriches, Dawson, Kaboul, Naughton, Rose, Capoue, Chadli, Dembele, Eriksen, Lennon, Paulinho, Sandro, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Adebayor.
Sunderland from: Mannone, Pickford, Ustari, Alonso, Bardsley, Brown, Celustka, Cuellar, Dossena, O'Shea, Vergini, Roberge, Ba, Bridcutt, Cattermole, Colback, Gardner, Giaccherini, Johnson, Ki, Larsson, Mavrias, Altidore, Borini, Scocco, Wickham, Fletcher.
Match Appointments:
Referee: Lee Mason. Assistants: S Bennett, I Hussin. Fourth Official: M Dean