Bailey Wright insists Sunderland must take charge of their own destiny and earn the final day victory that will secure a play-off place. The midweek draw against Rotherham United left the Black Cats in fifth place in the table, and they could finish in the top six regardless of their result at relegation-threatened Morecambe on Saturday.
But the only way Sunderland can be certain of a play-off place - without having to worry about how rivals Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth, and Wycombe get on - is to beat the Shrimps at the Mazuma Stadium. Experienced centre-back Wright says Sunderland will be able to handle the pressure and secure the win they need.
"Pressure is pressure and you don’t come to a club like Sunderland to have an easy ride, you want to be part of something great and as a group have an opportunity to go and do that," said the Australia international. "We have to win Saturday to make sure things are sealed.
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"Morecambe are going to give us a tough game again and their team are also fighting. This is what you play football for, as a kid you want to be in games that matter, you want to make history and be part of success.
"All of that comes with pressure and that’s why we love the game and play the game. As a group we should thrive on in those situations and I think we will."
Going into the final game, three clubs are still competing for the two automatic promotion places, and below that trio Sunderland are one of four competing for the remaining three play-off berths. Wright said: "I don’t think I've seen anything like it, but this is why we love football.
"The standard has been really good in the division this year, super competitive. There are some big hitters in the division that aren't even going to make the play-offs.
"We knew at the start of the year the division was probably going to be the toughest it's been. But great, bring on the challenge because the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward.
"We certainly want it and we've put ourselves in a position where we go on and make sure it happens."
Sunderland go into the final game on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run, but they needed an 88th minute own-goal from Rotherham defender Michael Ihiekwe - who had earlier scored at the right end - to keep that sequence going. The Black Cats were not at their best against the second-placed Millers, but Wright says they can take heart from the character and resilience they showed to keep going and force the late mistake.
"We set out to win the game but Rotherham are a good side, are good at what they do and are where they are for a reason," he said. "Throughout the season they have been up there but based on momentum and how the game went, I thought conceding from a set-piece was frustrating.
"I felt the way the game was going and momentum was shifting. I thought we looked like the team that could go and win it. On the balance of play maybe a draw is not a bad result and we keep the momentum going into this last game which is obviously really important.
"We take confidence from the other night, recover and just go again. There was a lot of good on Tuesday, it was a different sort of performance, different sort of game and we showed different parts of our character and our togetherness.
"Obviously we will look back - could we have shown a bit more of our game? Maybe. But it's a tough physical game and it was always going to be difficult.
"We hold our heads high, take belief and move on to Saturday."
Wright joined Sunderland in January 2020, initially on a six-month deal before signing a two-year contract that summer which ends at the end of the season. But, with Sunderland's sole focus on achieving promotion through the play-offs, boss Alex Neil said recently that all contract talks had been put on hold and Wright echoed that.
He said: "Those conversations have never happened. They've been on the back burner for a while.
"The focus really has been on each game, winning the next game, and if you do that, things take care of themselves. That's my focus, doing my best for this club.
"Whenever it is, I'm always ready to give myself, and whatever happens after that will happen, and we'll deal with it then."
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