Sunderland relishing Manchester City game says Anton Ferdinand
Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand is setting his sights on denting Manchester City's bid for Champions League football and easing his own club's fears of falling into the Championship.
Ferdinand's team will face high-flying Man City on Sunday at the Stadium of Light and he is confident Sunderland will build on the 4-0 hammering of Bolton that ended a three-month winless streak in the Premier League.
“That was an absolutely massive win and getting the win takes some of the pressure off a little bit, but we need to win more matches,” Ferdinand said.
“If we can carry this into the Man City and Birmingham games, the table could like quite a bit different after them. But we have to take each game as it comes and, if we play like we did today, I don't see us having any problems.
“I've been in much worse situations than this. When I was at West Ham, we had to go to Manchester United on the last day of the season and win to stay in the Premier League.
“Situations don't get much more difficult than that, but we survived and got ourselves out of it. This was never anything like that. I don't think we were ever in a crisis. It would be naïve to think that we're not in a dogfight, and that still applies, but we were never in a crisis and if we continue to play like that, we won't be.
“It's just back to work. We're obviously happy to get that win under our belts because it's been a long time coming, but I wouldn't say it's a feeling of relief because we always knew it was going to come.
“The belief is the squad is unreal. Maybe it was hard to see that belief in the last couple of games before that, but in training the belief running through the lads has been second to none.
"That's thanks to the gaffer and the lads as a whole. We got ourselves into gear against Fulham and played the game in the way it should be played.”
A hat-trick from England World Cup hopeful Darren Bent earned Sunderland their first win in 15 top-flight games and Ferdinand was full of praise for his colleague and fellow striker Kenwyne Jones.
“This just showed what a great striker he is, not only in terms of his goals, but also in his work off the ball and his work to bring other people into the team,” Ferdinand added.
“Him and Kenwyne were the heartbeat of our team. The way they played got all the rest of us up for the game. Kenwyne was unplayable at times as well, and when Kenwyne is like that, it helps Benty and brings other people into the game, and gets other people chances. Hopefully, that will continue.
“Darren is right up there with any other striker in the Premier League.
His record in the Premier League shows that, it's incredible really.
He's up there with the best, but it's not just about the goals, it's his all-round game. It's coming together, and he's coming together as a pair with Kenwyne, which is nice to see.
“It's like everyone who's English and has a chance of getting into that World Cup squad, all they have to do is keep playing well for their club. If they do that, you can't ignore people who are doing well.”
Ferdinand, nominally a centre-half, has helped shore up the Sunderland defence in recent weeks by playing in an unfamiliar left-back role but the former West Ham player is just happy to help out.
“It's nice that I can add something to the side, and we've got two clean sheets in the last two matches,” Ferdinand said.
“It's nice that I've been part of that backline that's got the two clean sheets. I think for most of the clean sheets this season, I've been part of that backline, which is a nice stat for me. But it's not just me and it's not just the defence, it's the whole team.
“When the whole team is clicking together, that's when we get our clean sheets. I just have to keep playing well, and as I've said on many occasions, I'll play anywhere for this club and I'll give 100 per cent.
“I said after the Fulham game (that finished 0-0) that at that point in time, we were either doing well at the back and not scoring goals or scoring goals and not keeping clean sheets. We needed to bring it together and we did that here.
“Some of the attacking was as good as it has been all season. We showed glimpses of what we were like at the start of the season. But that's only one game. We have to try to maintain that for as long as possible.”
Capello: Man City better for replacing Hughes with Mancini
Fabio Capello believes Manchester City were correct to replace Mark Hughes with Roberto Mancini.
The England coach says Mancini has brought a new confidence to City's player.
"Mancini is an Italian manager and he is working very well. The results are good. I hope he will realise the ambitions of the owner," said Mancini. "He changed a lot, the style from Mark Hughes is very different. Now I think the team has more confidence and they can beat every team. I was there and Chelsea was a really important game for all the players. Beating Chelsea away is not easy for the best team in the world. Yes, they can reach the top four."
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole is set to quit the club on a free transfer in the summer. The Blues have reportedly offered him a one-year extension, incorporating a 40% pay-cut, to his current deal which expires at the end of the season. Daily Star
Brazilian midfielder Sandro is preparing himself for a £6m summer move to Tottenham from current club Internacionale by learning English. Daily Mirror
Tottenham are sounding out clubs in Belgium about taking Zambian left-back Emmanuel Mbola on loan after the London club agreed a £1m deal to sign the teenager from Armenian club Yerevan. Daily Mirror
Celtic are keen to recruit Arsenal striker Jay Simpson for next season after watching him in action for QPR, where he is on loan for the season. Daily Mirror
Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery, who is a target for the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, says he will resolve his future before the summer. imscouting.com
Birmingham City and Wolves are both trailing Crystal Palace full-back Nathaniel Clyne. Daily Mirror
Everton hit man James Vaughan is joining Leicester City's promotion push - to the fury of Championship rivals Derby County, who had the striker on loan earlier this season and had hoped to re-sign him. Daily Mirror
Fulham striker Erik Nevland will leave the club on a free transfer at the end of this season to join his former team Viking Stavanger. Daily Express
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OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has challenged striker Wayne Rooney to beat former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo's United goal record of 42 during the 2007/08 season. The England man took his tally to 30 for the season with a brace in United's 4-0 Champions League win over Milan on Wednesday. The Sun
England boss Fabio Capello says Rooney is one of the three best players in the world; putting the striker on a par with Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. The Sun
Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who started the season playing for League Two side Notts County, is eyeing a shock re-call to the England side. The Sun
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has called a crisis meeting of his players in an attempt to stamp out the discord that threatens the very fabric of the club. In recent weeks, the Spanish coach has been dismayed by what he sees as "negative body language" from his players as they struggle to keep themselves in the race for a top-four finish. Daily Mirror
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, who enjoyed managerial spells with Udinese and Inter Milan prior to taking over at Craven Cottage, has admitted he would like to coach again in Italy before the end of his career. Daily Mirror
The backlash towards Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini has begun following the club's Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon on Wednesday. The front page of Madrid based newspaper Marca this morning says "Adio Champions, Adios Pellegrini. Fuera" which translates as "Goodbye Champions [League], Goodbye Pellegrini. Out." imscouting.com
Former Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink has agreed to manage Ivory Coast at this summer's World Cup in South Africa - providing he can negotiate an early release from his contract as Russia coach, which runs until mid-July. After the World Cup, Hiddink will take over as coach of Turkey. Daily Mail
Newcastle stars like Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan will be asked to take a pay cut if the Magpies win promotion to the Premier League because they are still on lucrative contracts handed to them prior to the club's relegation from the top flight last season. Daily Mirror
more later ....
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