TOUGH-TACKLING full-back Stephen Wright has promised to match Stoke tackle for tackle if they repeat their physical approach against Sunderland this evening.

Black Cats boss Mick McCarthy accused his side of being "bullied out of the game" when they went down 3-1 at the Britannia Stadium last September.

But the perils of too aggressive an approach were underlined when midfielder Jeff Whitley was forced out of next month's semi-final with either Millwall or Tranmere after being sent off against Preston last week.

The threat of missing the Old Trafford showdown will still be hanging over Sunderland's players when Stoke visit the Stadium of Light tonight.

But, with a win certain to take the Black Cats back into the play-off places, Wright is putting all thoughts of what could happen in the future to the back of his mind.

"It would be a blow if you were forced out of the semi-final," said the former Liverpool defender. "But you can't do anything about it as a player.

"You can't pull out of challenges on the pitch and you can't go into a challenge thinking about what might or might not happen.

"The gaffer probably wouldn't play me anyway if he saw me pulling out of a challenge. I'd rather be sent off anyway than that."

West Ham's players thought Wright should have been dismissed on Saturday after a crunching challenge forced Matthew Etherington out of the action.

But tests yesterday showed the Hammers midfielder's leg injury to be nothing more than severe bruising and, after reviewing the tackle on video, Wright remains adamant that he did nothing wrong.

"At the time I thought I won the ball anyway," said Wright. "Even though some of their lads said they thought it was a bad tackle.

"I saw it again after the game and I still thought it was a good tackle.

"They were saying they thought he might have broken his leg and you don't want that to happen to anyone.

"I felt for him and I was asking how he was, but the challenge was a good one from my point of view and I think they'd admit as much once they'd seen it again."

September's defeat at Stoke ended a four-match winning run that had taken the Black Cats into an automatic promotion spot.

Norwich and West Brom currently fill those two places and, while the Canaries slipped up at the weekend, the pair still hold a 12-point advantage over Sunderland.

McCarthy's side have at least two games in hand on both though and, with the twin pacesetters still to visit the Stadium of Light, automatic promotion remains a tantalising possibility.

"You'd have to say it looks unlikely because we're a lot of points behind," said McCarthy. "I'd certainly sooner be in Norwich or West Brom's position.

"But they'll be looking at the games in hand we've got. If we could win a couple of those they might start twitching a bit because they know they've still got to come here.

"Everybody's view on their own particular position is different. But it does make a difference. It certainly helps to see yourself moving up the league table."

McCarthy could recall midfielder Jason McAteer after he missed the win over West Ham through an assortment of bumps and bruises, while striker Tommy Smith has shaken off a bruised toe.

Fellow frontman Marcus Stewart will be absent again though, after a scan yesterday showed a stomach strain that is likely to sideline him for a fortnight.

Matt Piper came off the bench to make his first appearance since August on Saturday but, after a serious knee injury, McCarthy is in no rush to press the former Leicester winger back into action.

"He's had so many operations and it's so sad for a young lad of his age," said McCarthy.

"He's got undoubted ability but we might have to manage him quite carefully until the end of the season and try to get as many minutes as we can with him playing.

"We're not going to just throw him into games because, with the amount of time he's had out, he wouldn't cope.

"The pace and intensity of games at the end of the season mean he's going to have to have bits of games for a little while which can hopefully build up into a full 90 minutes week in, week out."

* Sunderland last night lost out to Sheffield United in the race to sign Bradford City full-back Simon Francis.

It is the second time in just over a month that the Black Cats have lost out to the Blades in the race to sign a player from the Bantams - after Andy Gray moved to Bramall Lane in February.

Francis, 19, is believed to have cost £200,000 with the fee rising to £250,000 depending on appearances