Time for Sunderland to rewrite Coventry record in play-offs

Going into the final day of the regular season there were five potential semi-final opponents for the Black Cats but only one nemesis.

Be honest - it felt inevitable, didn’t it?

And so Regis Le Bris’ men head to the CBS Arena for this evening’s first leg, scene of arguably their worst performance of the season when they lost 3-0 back in March, and under the long shadow of a 40-year winless streak at Coventry.

But if you thought that that was the only bad omen ahead of the play-offs, I’ve got news for you.

Never mind Sunderland’s grisly record in the Sky Blue corner of the Midlands, if the Black Cats are to win promotion to the Premier League they will have to do something that no play-off winner has achieved since the Football League introduced the end-of-season drama in 1986-87 - more of that in a minute.

First things first, let’s get one thing straight: Sunderland are heading into the play-offs on the crest of a slump.

That’s why the atmosphere following the final game of the season against QPR last weekend was heavy with apprehension rather than crackling with excitement.

And that’s why the stands were largely empty as the players embarked on their lap of appreciation shortly after full-time.

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The lack of enthusiasm amongst the fans was entirely understandable - five defeats on the bounce, and six games without a win, will do that to you.

That and the fact that everyone knows the most crucial home game, the second leg of the play-off final, is still to come.

In any case, Sunderland had better shake off the malaise that has affected them following last month’s goalless draw at Norwich City that guaranteed a play-off spot, or else all the good work they have put in from August until early April will count for nought.

Since that trip to Carrow Road it has been sheer LLLLL.

Therein lies the problem.

Back to that play-off first Sunderland will have to achieve.

No play-off winner in the Championship or Leagues One and Two - and in all their earlier guises - has ever finished the regular season on a five-game losing streak.

Nor a six-game winless run, for that matter.

There have been a few sides over the years that have been badly out of form going into the play-offs but gone on to win promotion.

Crystal Palace won only one of their last nine Championship games in 2013, but that victory came on the final day of the season, which meant they at least finished on a high before emerging victorious in the play-offs.

Huddersfield Town were winless in their final five league games before they climbed out of the third tier in 1995, and Wycombe Wanderers were winless in their final five before they won the fourth tier play-offs in 1994.

But Sunderland’s run-in record this season is worse than any of those.

To put things into perspective, the Black Cats’ winless run at Coventry spans four decades but only actually encompasses 13 visits.

By comparison, there have been 114 play-off winners throughout the leagues since 1987, all of whom have managed stronger finishes than this Sunderland side.

Look, I’m well aware that this column has so far been a little light on rah-rah, tub-thumping, blind optimism.

I am looking forward to the play-offs, really I am.

I should point out that this has been (until recently) a thrilling season on Wearside, with performances and a fourth-placed finish which far exceeded last summer’s expectations.

It can still end in Wembley glory and another Trafalgar Square takeover.

Yes, Sunderland are going to have to break new ground to make that a reality. But there’s a first time for everything, right?

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SHEFFIELD  UNITED have already got one foot in the final following their 3-0 semi-final win at ten-man Bristol City last night.

It is not quite an impossible task for the Robins - Sheffield Wednesday recovered a 4-0 first leg deficit in the League One play-off semi-final two years ago - but to say they have a mountain to climb is an understatement.

Hopefully, Sunderland’s long wait for a win at Coventry will come to an end this evening and they will bring a lead back to the Stadium of Light for the second leg.

But if it is not to be, they must at least give themselves a fighting chance on Tuesday night - and not leave themselves like City, praying for a miracle.