AS if the weather outside was not cold enough, Danny Collins has revealed that Sunderland's players have turned to ice baths in an attempt to beat his boyhood heroes Everton.

David Moyes' side are the visitors for this afternoon's relegation six-pointer and, with this year's festive programme proving as hectic as ever, the Black Cats' medical staff are hoping the restorative powers of freezing water help kick-start the club's survival campaign.

While Sunderland's fans sought a spot in front of the fire in the wake of the Boxing Day draw with Bolton, the club's players made the short journey up the coast to their state-of-the-art training ground.

Waiting for them inside was an ice-cold bath and a heated swimming pool. The former is championed by a number of leading athletes, such as marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe, as a means of guarding against muscle injury and ridding the body of a build-up of lactic acid.

Unsurprisingly, it did not prove too popular but, after Blackburn's frozen pitch added to this week's recovery time, Collins is hoping the ice treatment helps put the skids under Everton's hopes of survival.

"We have been having the ice baths whether we want them or not," said the 25-year-old defender. "After the game on Monday, we came straight back to the Academy and didn't set off for home until seven o'clock at night.

"We were in the swimming pools and ice baths in an attempt to get the lactic acid out of the legs. It's all about recovery at a time like this.

"I'm sure most of the lads would rather have been sat in front of the TV at home, but I think we felt the benefits the following day. We were meant to be having four games in eight days and you have to do everything possible to help yourself cope with a run like that."

Monday's draw with Bolton ended a run of nine successive defeats, but subsequent results mean Sunderland remain 11 points adrift of safety.

Everton now occupy the sought-after 17th spot, although consecutive defeats to Aston Villa and Liverpool mean it has been a far from merry Christmas for the Merseysiders.

Sunderland have already lost at home to Birmingham and Portsmouth this season, two of their biggest rivals for the drop. They can ill afford to add Everton to that list, with Collins admitting this afternoon's game represents one of their final opportunities to spark a second-half-of-the-season rally.

"This is a massive, massive game," he said. "There are three or four teams above us who we can realistically target, and Everton are one of those teams.

"We need 11 points to get out of the relegation zone at the minute, and that would take us right up to teams like Birmingham, Portsmouth - they're getting dragged right back in there - and Everton.

"It's still early in the season, but this is a real six-pointer. They're struggling like we are. People are saying they are too good to go down, but the table doesn't lie. There are three or four teams down there with us who are going to struggle as well.

"There's definitely a belief that we can still stay up. If there wasn't, we wouldn't come into training every day. But we have to turn that belief into something more tangible."

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