WHEN Jan Kirchhoff decided to turn his back on the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich for a crack at the Premier League, he knew what he was letting himself in for.

But, after accepting a chance to prove himself in a different country, he did not quite envisage that his time with Sunderland in the top-flight would still be in danger of being cut short with three matches remaining of the season.

That is the precarious situation Kirchhoff is faced with ahead of this afternoon’s visit of Chelsea to the Stadium of Light. A defeat for the Black Cats would make it even harder to stay up ahead of remaining dates with Everton and Watford.

Kirchhoff has been an integral part of Sunderland’s improvements since January, but that has not been enough to climb clear of the bottom three. Sunderland’s Premier League future – as well as the German’s – is in extreme doubt.

The 25-year-old said: “I didn’t really think about the whole situation when I joined. I didn’t really think about what would or wouldn’t happen in the final few weeks of the season.

“My main focus at the start was just on playing games and trying to give some quality to the team. I was seeing the squad though, and I definitely thought we were good enough to stay in the league, that’s why I came over here. I still think the same.

“I’m still convinced, but we have to show our quality in the next three games. I’m sure we’re good enough, but we have to prove it, and with just three more games to go, maybe we need a little bit of luck as well.

“The other teams will have a say, but we just have to make sure we do our job then it won’t matter. There are 38 games in a season, and you get what you deserve in the end. We have to influence the things we can, and if we do that, we will deserve to stay in the league.”

With a point separating Sunderland, who have a game in hand, with Newcastle above them, Kirchhoff accepts they must collect at least two victories from the remaining games – and could require seven points.

He said: “It’s now or never. It felt the situation would go to a peak – and this is it. The positions have changed a bit in the last few weeks, but really nothing has changed.

“We still have everything in our own hands, but we need to get good performances on the pitch because that is the only way we are going to win the games we need to win.

“We have to start to get the results now. Our home performances have been good, but the only thing that matters now is that we get the wins.”

Kirchhoff, named the Premier League’s player of the month for April yesterday,  has been part of a side which has only lost two of last ten, but only won two in that run too.

He said: “We are still very optimistic. We definitely think we will get the points we need to stay in the league. We’ve been playing quite well, but it’s not enough to play well now, we really need to win games. That’s what we have to do against Chelsea.”