TIME TO DELIVER

With Sunderland heading into the play offs on the back of five straight defeats and having only scored four goals in the last ten games, here’s the post QPR reaction from Chris Mepham and Régis Le Bris…

MEPHAM ON COV

“It’s the perfect opportunity for us to put everything right, especially that game in particular against Coventry, where I think it's probably the most disappointing result and performance we've had. So what an opportunity to go there and give a good account of ourselves and get a result and get something that we can hold on to come back to the Stadium of Light, where we know the fans will be behind us and they'll play the 12th man at times. It's not been a good run that we've been on, but for me, when you head into two play-off games, I think form goes out the window. I think you've got two of the biggest games of your lives, where naturally everyone will raise their level, and the fans will be behind everyone. Like I said, I think we've got an amazing opportunity now to progress.

DESTINY

“I think it's been a compliment and a credit towards the fact that we've been in a position where, with six games to go, we can tinker with the team and give important players a rest and make some tactical tweaks and some changes. I think other teams are scrapping for their lives, and it's going down to the wire. You see, today teams missing out on the play-offs, teams getting relegated. We've been in a position for a long time now where we know our destiny. I think it can be difficult on the flip side because, like I said, you can subconsciously lose that little bit of motivation. Like I said, it's really important now that we dust ourselves down and know that we've got two massive games coming up, and hopefully we get the third one at Wembley.”

RLB “A BIT WEIRD”

“This chapter is over, and obviously the result was not what we expected. This period has been a bit weird, as we secured fourth place quite early. It was necessary to refresh the squad and give a chance to players who hadn’t had many minutes to get some game time. Now that this period has closed, we know exactly who our opponent is and the fixtures ahead. We don’t need to over-think or analyse too much this period because it’s done. It’s set, and now the challenge is massive. We knew it could have been either Bristol City or Coventry City. Both are strong teams with different styles of play, maybe with different strengths and weaknesses. We will have to face and manage a tough challenge against a strong side, but we believe our squad has the quality to win.”

POSITIVE ENERGY “It’s two different chapters. This one is closed and the team did very well with the first steps in the season. Now we have to have positive energy and togetherness and the belief that we have the strength to be competitive. Even after a defeat we felt the connection is still great and positive and to face the challenges we have this togetherness will be really important and I’m sure our fans will be behind us.”