Source: SKY_Sports
Sbragia engrossed in battle
Ricky Sbragia insists that Sunderland's current relegation scrap means that he cannot afford to stop thinking about football.
The Black Cats boss is working around the clock in order to help keep the club in the Premier League with last weekend's lacklustre 2-0 defeat at West Ham leaving them one place and three points above the drop zone.
The club's form of one win in eight has seen them plummet down the table meaning the three North East clubs occupy positions in the bottom four.
Sunderland's chances of improving their precarious position in their next outing appear slim with champions Manchester United visiting the Stadium of Light.
Sbragia said: "Somebody said to me, 'When do you stop thinking about football?'
"You can't. The only time you stop thinking about it is when you are sleeping. It's always on your mind all the time, it has always been on my mind from the first day.
"It's always there, it's always in the background. You try to get away from it, but unfortunately, you have got mobile phones and people speak to you and they want to talk to you here, there and everywhere."
Despite Sbragia going into the United game looking to get a result he knows that results against fellow strugglers Hull and West Brom in the following weeks will determine his side's destiny.
"We will beat the drop. We are very confident we will beat it, the players are confident of doing it," he added.
Confident
"We can't rely on anybody else, we have got to just rely on what we can do, and we are confident we can secure out position in the league.
"I believe in what we have got and I believe we can get the points to secure what we need to do within the Premier League."
With United starting to show signs of fatigue after what has been a long hard season many critics have voiced concern over whether the Red Devils can go on to retain their titles, at home and abroad.
But Sbragia, who was reserve team boss at Old Trafford for three years from 2002, indicates United are always a threat.
"I spoke to Mick Phelan (United assistant manager) at the game last week. Everybody seemed concerned about Manchester United and he seemed quite relaxed about it," he explained.
"They have got a lot of quality. They say they are struggling, and they are top of the Premier League and they are still in the Champions League and the FA Cup as well.
"It would be nice to be in that situation and struggling."
