Tony Mowbray knows the task is simple now for Sunderland: they must win at Preston on the final day of the season to keep their play-off hopes alive. The Black Cats fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Watford at the Stadium of Light, and that leaves them two points outside the play-off places.
They must win at Deepdale a week on Monday, and they may also need other results to go their way if they are to finish in the top six. "It gives us real clarity that we have to go and win at Preston," said Mowbray.
"If we do - everyone around us has got tough games from what I can see on paper - so you never know, do you? Let's go to Preston and win.
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"That was always going to be the objective. There's real clarity, we have to go and get the three points.
"I'm pretty relaxed about it, as you've hopefully seen all along. The expectation is the expectation and we've given ourselves a really good opportunity.
"It goes to the last game of the season, we're going to take 6,000 fans there, and let's hope at the end it is a big party. I'm pleased enough to the point that we are in it [the play-off race] to the last game of the season.
"We might go there and win and it still not be enough of course, but we'll see."
Sunderland fell behind inside the opening 20 minutes when Christian Kabasele headed the Hornets in front from a corner. And the visitors doubled their lead 20 minutes from time when Ryan Porteous headed in from another corner.
Those set-piece goals exposed the lack of height and physicality in a Sunderland side that has been stripped of centre-halves Danny Batth, Dan Ballard, and Aji Alese through injury, along with striker Ross Stewart who is also an imposing presence in the penalty area when defending corners. Mowbray said: "Without over-highlighting it, that was a real issue for us.
"We did amazingly well at West Brom to keep them out [from set-pieces last weekend], because I said at the end there they seemed to be bringing on the Harlem Globetrotters at the end - everyone that came on was 6ft 5in - yet we still managed to see that out. Today we didn't quite deal with Watford's set-plays.
"We know it's an Achilles heel without Ballard and without Batth and Alese and Ross Stewart - there's four players that would definitely help that scenario, but they are not available. It's difficult when they've got big, aggressive, guys who make a living by heading balls.
"Someone there in my office just said 'have you thought about putting two players up the pitch?' but my view on that is that the more space you give big guys to run into, the more dangerous they become because the more likely they are to win headers. I try to fill the box up with loads of bodies so they can't get a clear run.
"They damaged us a bit today on set-plays and yet we kept on going to the very death and got our rewards."
After going 2-0 down, Sunderland hit back immediately through Luke O'Nien, and then Patrick Roberts scored a stunning equaliser in injury-time to earn his side deserved point. Mowbray said: "We showed reasonable patience at the end, we were flooding the box in the last 20 minutes.
"And then Pat Roberts is a guy I've said I couldn't believe when I first came to this club that he had been playing in League One, and he does what he does. He's an amazing footballer and cometh the hour, cometh the man, really.
"He had one in the first half that he just didn't get his toe around that could easily have bent in off the far post, but then when we needed him right at the death he put one in the top corner. I don't think anyone could argue that we didn't deserve anything out of that football match."
He added: "I thought the fans were amazing today, they were right behind us and when we needed them in the second half they stuck with the team and the noise was great. Like anything in life, you have to live the experience to get better and get stronger, and I think the team will get better and stronger for the experience of playing and trying to win at the Stadium of Light.
"I'm proud of the team. I'm proud of the effort they give, the work they do, and I hope that the majority of the supporters enjoy watching them work hard and try to play football in a way that is with the ball and try to be creative to break them down. That's why I feel they need support and I think it's a good place for them to be at."
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