STRIKER Kevin Kyle insists Sunderland must summon up the resilience and resolve that helped them cope with FA Cup semi-final heartbreak to keep their promotion push on track.

The Black Cats' 1-0 home defeat by second-placed West Brom on Sunday as good as extinguished hopes of automatic promotion, and the drama of the play-offs now beckons.

Mick McCarthy's men need to bounce back like they did in winning away to Wimbledon a fortnight ago, little more than 48 hours after losing to Millwall in their Cup semi at Old Trafford.

Crystal Palace, themselves still in contention for a play-off spot, provide the opposition at Selhurst Park tomorrow night.

McCarthy admitted in the wake of the West Brom setback, which left Sunderland trailing the Baggies by 12 points, that it might be tougher maintaining his players' morale this time after a second major let-down.

But Kyle believes they have the character to rise again to the challenge. He said: "I think that's Norwich and West Brom more or less promoted, but hopefully we can finish in the play-offs.

"At the beginning of the season I think most people would have taken that, and it looks like we're going to have to settle for it.

"But we're up for the play-offs. It's a gamble, it's a lottery, it's over two legs, but hopefully we can progress to the final and get back up that way.

"We're third, we've got a game or two in hand on the teams below us and we can pick up six or seven points. I'm sure that will confirm us in the play-offs.

"I think everyone would have been happy with that considering what happened pre-season when so many of the top players left.

"But it's disappointing to come so close. I look back on games and think that we should have won this one or that one, and I should have scored and I should have done this or that. I'm sure all the boys feel the same.

"We had a bigger disappointment in the semi-final of the FA Cup against Millwall and we picked ourselves up, got on with it against Wimbledon and got three points.

"I think that's what we have to do now. We play Crystal Palace and if we go there, get three points and get back on track, Sunday will be put to the back of our minds.

"Like the semi-final, we'll think of what might have been, but we've still got every chance of getting up through the play-offs. There's no reason why we should fear anybody.

"At the start of the season, the main thing was to get back into the Premier League because that's where the club belongs.

"To get to the semi-finals of the Cup was an achievement on its own because we didn't expect to get there.

"After losing I think we just stuck it to the back of our minds and concentrated on what we started out to do in the first place, which was to try to win promotion.

"There's no point in dwelling on things because the moment you do, it affects you. We still have a lot to play for.

"I don't think it really matters where we finish now as long as we're in the play-offs.

"It would be nice to finish third because you play the sixth-placed team.

"But whoever you get it's going to be a difficult game. All the teams in with a chance are decent sides, so you just have to take who you get.

"Hopefully we can make sure it's our day then.''

Kyle, who came on as a second-half substitute on Sunday, conceded: "There were a few words said in the dressing room afterwards and the lads are gutted, as you would expect, because we had so much of the ball but couldn't break them down.

"And to lose to a goal two minutes into stoppage time, it doesn't get any more disappointing than that.

"If we'd won we could have pushed West Brom. If we'd won our game in hand, we could have been only three points behind them.

"We might have had a sniff, but that's not the case now.

"It's probably an achievement that we've got ourselves into this position after coming down last season.

"The gaffer has had to work with the players who were left and has brought in a few more. A lot of the pundits maybe thought we would go into freefall down the divisions, but we've played well to get where we are now.'