McCarthy keen to put record straight

Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy has been studying a video nasty as he prepares his side for their Division One play-off semi-final showdown with Crystal Palace.

The Black Cats travelled to Selhurst Park on April 21 for what proved to be a disastrous night as keeper Mart Poom was dismissed after conceding a penalty and his side went down 3-0 as the Eagles staged their late charge into the top six.

McCarthy watched a recording of the game as he plotted the downfall of Iain Dowie’s side on the same pitch tonight, and he admitted that it did not make pleasant viewing.

He said: “I watched the first 20 minutes up to the penalty and I can honestly say it was one of the worst 20 minutes of a game of football I’ve seen in a long, long time. Both sides were useless.

“They got a penalty, but I don’t think there had been an attempt on goal prior to that – I don’t think there had been a pass to anybody’s feet in terms of passing to the same-coloured shirt from any player.

“They got a penalty and of course it changed completely and they ran out deserved winners. They thoroughly deserved to win.

“But they didn’t see us and probably we didn’t see them. They were playing against 10 men and they’ve got good pace up front.

“It wasn’t going to be easy for us in those circumstances and they ran out worthy winners. But it’s a different game.”

That defeat came in the midst of a five-match run during which the Wearsiders picked up only two points and allowed the chasing pack to close alarmingly.

However, successive victories over champions Norwich and Burnley in their final two games of the regular season ensured a third-place finish, while Palace sneaked into the play-offs literally at the death last Sunday when, despite losing 2-1 at Coventry, Brian Deane’s late equaliser for West Ham at Wigan handed them their ticket to the end-of-season shoot-out.

“I don’t think form really matters in the play-offs,” said McCarthy. “Sometimes somebody stumbles into them – and to be fair, they did stumble into them, didn’t they?

“Yes, they’ve had all the form, yes, they’ve been brilliant, yes, Iain’s done a remarkable job, but the upshot of it was they got beat in the last game and it was only that Brian Deane scored that last-minute goal at Wigan that got them in.

“Having had that large slice of luck getting into them at the very end having done so well, that would concern me more than the form, to be honest.

“We’ve been four form teams all season long – we must be or we wouldn’t be in the play-offs – but I think the play-offs take on a bit of a life of their own. Form or how good a team you are doesn’t really matter.

“If I can get one element, I’ll take that element of luck going into them because we can play and we’re as good as the other three. A little bit of luck would be nice.”