AS his Sunderland squad prepares for the first of their final five home matches, Chris Coleman has urged his players to treat every game they play as if it’s the final opportunity to keep Championship football at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats have just nine games remaining to preserve second tier status and overturn a five point deficit required to stay up.

Given that Sunderland are winless in nine going into Saturday’s visit of play-off chasing Preston, many have already accepted – perhaps prematurely – that relegation is on the cards.

Coleman is having none of that. He is determined to stay positive and wants his players to, too – claiming one victory could be the start of a dramatic turnaround so late in the campaign.

He said: “When people say you will need four, five or six wins, nobody knows. You don’t know what is needed, you will never know in the Championship.

“One result to the next, inconsistencies. Take the last week, we should have got something from QPR, then they went and beat Aston Villa … that’s the league. We have to look at the next game like it’s the last game.

“We need to get a positive feeling, home or away doesn’t matter. Let’s get something positive from the game. One 90 minutes can change things. We have to make sure we make it happens. Whoever is fit, ready, let’s play the next game like it’s the last game.

“I think the players do believe, they need a little nudge of confidence, a little bit of luck. They are human beings at the end of the day, they feel the pressure but they have to change our circumstances. They have to.

“They can change the events like I believe, they have to believe. It would be nice to see that five point gap change to a two point gap. Football is crazy. Human beings are human beings and when you are in certain positions people react differently. We have to make it happen.”

Sunderland will be heading into the visit of Preston, who Simon Grayson left last summer to take on the Wearside challenge, knowing there are a number of players carrying injury problems.

Given how time is running out to win the fight for survival, Coleman knows he could have to gamble on the fitness of certain players when normally they might be given extended time off.

“Risks have to be taken,” said Coleman. “It has to be calculated, we only have nine games remaining. It’s needs must. The lads know that.

“In other circumstances you would not take a risk but we are at the stage where we might have to just to get over the line. We are running out of games and the players know that.”

John O’Shea trained on Friday after missing the rest of the week’s sessions with a thigh problem. Kazenga LuaLua and Paddy McNair have also trained with the first team this week and could be in contention to figure against Preston.

Marc Wilson and Darron Gibson have also made good progress with their problems, although this weekend’s game has come too soon for them to play. Jonny Williams definitely misses out with the torn quadriceps picked up at Loftus Road.

Coleman knows Preston are in with a chance of going up, but he is convinced his players can suddenly find that little spark to deliver a much-needed three points in the battle at the other end of the table.

He said: “Preston have made a real fist of it this year. Physically they are strong, they have pace and power. They will come into the game with pressure for the right reasons.

“It will be a tough game and everything can happen. They will know it will be a tough game for them as well as us. Let’s see where we end up at 5pm. They will know the situation we are in and that we are fighting for our lives.

“It’s not an easy position we are in. We won’t do it if we don’t believe we can do it, we have to keep believing, keep going because one result can change everything. There are teams in and around us who have been doing the same things, there’s still four teams very much in it.

“One result can change the landscape dramatically, putting pressure on those above. We keep saying it every weekend, I couldn’t fault the lads for their determination last weekend, but we lost the game ultimately, it was much better than the one before.

“We know we are running out of games. We can’t wait until the next game, it has to be this one. It can happen, in the space of 90 minutes it can be much different. Let’s hope it’s the case this weekend.”