SUNDERLAND stalwart Kevin Ball expects the club's fanatical home support to prove decisive in the Black Cats' play-off double header with Crystal Palace.

By finishing third in the final First Division table, Mick McCarthy's side have ensured that the all-important second leg of their semi-final will take place at the Stadium of Light on Monday.

And Ball, who wrote his name into club folklore during his 389 appearances for Sunderland, knows just how crucial that home advantage could be.

The tough-tackling midfielder, who is now part of the Black Cats' backroom staff, was the skipper of the Sunderland side that lost 2-1 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final to Sheffield United in 1998.

But, when the two sides reconvened on Wearside the following week, a packed Stadium of Light urged Peter Reid's side to a 2-0 win that took them to Wembley.

This year's play-off campaign will begin at Selhurst Park on Friday night and, as long as they are still in touch following the first leg, Ball is confident that a simarly rousing reception could spur Sunderland to success yet again.

"Any team that comes to the Stadium of Light, or Roker Park as it used to be, will be up against it," said Ball, who was part of Sunderland's title-winning squads in 1996 and 1999.

"With the atmosphere that was generated that night against Sheffield United, any opposing team was going to be frightened to death. There's no two ways about it. It takes an unbelievably strong character not to be frightened by it all.

"We said to the fans that on the night we didn't want a red-hot atmosphere, we wanted a white-hot one. And that's what we got.

"The atmosphere was superb and that definitely helped to pull us through. There were times in the game when we had our backs to the wall, but the fans kept urging us on.

"They were cheering every pass and tackle that we made. It wasn't just me making a tackle in that game - it was me and 48,000 people tackling with me.

"When people go on about the crowd being an extra man - that's exactly what they were on that night. That's why I think it's important that the same thing happens again on Monday."

Victory over Sheffield United was ultimately in vain in 1998, as Sunderland went on to lose the final on penalties to Charlton following a 4-4 draw that is widely recognised as one of the greatest club games in recent memory.

Ball can still vividly recall the disappointment of losing the first leg at Bramall Lane and, while the Sunderland support played their part in the subsequent turnaround, former boss Reid was also integral to what followed on Wearside.

"The gaffer went mad in the changing rooms afterwards and told us he wanted to see all of us the following morning," said Ball.

"He tore into us in different ways and questioned how much we wanted to take Sunderland into the Premier League.

"It was brilliant - it was one of the best speeches that I've ever heard. That was at half ten and, if the game had kicked off at 11, I would have played brilliantly because Reidy's speech was superb.

"It was from the heart. He looked every one of us in the eye and I was positively buzzing from it."

Reid's belligerence helped Sunderland reach the play-offs in 1998 despite the bitter disappointment of relegation from the top-flight the preceding season.

McCarthy has been forced to adopt a similarly hard-edged approach this year as the Black Cats have confounded the critics who predicted they would struggle following last year's traumatic drop from the Premiership.

Ball has never hidden his affection for Sunderland since first joining the club from Portsmouth in 1990 and, while he was as disappointed as anybody at the club's dramatic demise, the former fans' favourite believes the time is now right to draw a line under everything that has happened in the last two years.

"I'm still a supporter," he said. "And I think we've got to get beyond that now.

"This team has risen from the ashes. They've got to the semi-final of the FA Cup within touching distance of Europe, they've been there or thereabouts all season despite some bad injuries, and they've got into the play-offs.

"Forget the fact that I'm a coach. I would just love to see Sunderland football club back in the Premier League."

l Chairman Bob Murray has urged the fans to reward McCarthy's squad for their effort and desire. "The players we have at the club want to be at the club," said Murray. "They've shown that by getting us to the semi-final of the FA Cup and by finishing third in the league.

"We've been at the bottom of the pit and we're on our way back up.

"I think it would be wonderful if they could forgive for this one game and get behind Mick McCarthy's Sunderland, to give them a fighting chance."

Read more about Sunderland here.