Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has acknowledged that relegation would be a colossal blow to take for the club.

He said: "There's great heart and passion, we have plenty of home games to rack the points up, and some away games against our rivals. That's what Sunderland is all about, it's about getting stuck in when times are adverse and feel that it's going to be tough.

"That's when Sunderland people stick their chests out - and that's the spirit that we try and get through to the football players."