Collins questions mettle of Boro's foreign legion

The Black Cats, rooted to the bottom and some 13 points adrift of safety, know all about what it takes to drop into the relegation zone, having spent most of the campaign there.

Defeat tonight would almost certainly leave Sunderland, desperate to bounce back from a calamitous FA Cup exit at Brentford on Saturday, planning for life in the Championship next season.

Victory for the Black Cats could see Boro, only three points above the drop zone themselves, join their North-East neighbours in the bottom three of the Premiership.

That prospect has become more than a possibility in recent weeks, as Boro have plummeted down the table after failing to win any of their last nine league matches.

Such form has made a mockery of predictions at the start of the season that Boro were serious contenders for a European place for the third season on the trot.

Collins questions whether or not some of Boro's acquisitions have the know-how to help Steve McClaren's men erase the threat of dropping into the Football League.

"Middlesbrough are showing signs of being a side in turmoil," said Collins. "They have a lot of foreign players who are probably earning big money. We will see whether they have got the nous to get themselves out of trouble.

"We will be fired up and if we can pick up the three points the teams above us will start to look at us. Middlesbrough are one of those."

Being knocked out by Brentford, of League One, in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the weekend has dented the confidence gained from a rare Premiership win at West Brom a week earlier.

That success was only Sunderland's second league win of the campaign, the first of which was against Boro in September, and Collins hopes to close the gap on tonight's opponents by earning the only double of the campaign.

"Hopefully the win over West Brom will pick us up as we head into an important couple of weeks," said Collins. "If we can pick up points and the teams above us get a little bit nervous, hopefully we can drag them down into it."

Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy avoided the players who played their part in Saturday's defeat to the Bees in fear of what he might have said to them.

Having had time to reflect among themselves, the squad feel they owe their manager something after an embarrassing showing at Griffin Park, in which Gary Breen feels they piled more pressure on the shoulders of McCarthy.

"I fully understand how angry the manager is because we let him down," said the Sunderland captain. "A lot of people talk about Brentford's performance mirroring their manager's passion but we certainly did not do that for our manager, which is unacceptable.

"We let him down big time, especially with the way the league has gone as well. To give him this added pressure is just not good enough so it's up to us to put things right."

Breen was one of those to have turned in an inept performance - highlighted by the way he missed his tackle on Dudley Campbell in the build-up to the first goal - and admits the whole team have to accept whatever McCarthy has to say.

"I'm sure the players will feel stung by the criticism directed at them by the manager and I would be worried if it didn't affect them," said Breen. "As well as Brentford played and as well as DJ Campbell took his chances he shouldn't have been given those chances.

"I should have made the tackle and he shouldn't have been allowed to get on the ball by the rest of the defence.

"It's vital we don't let it affect us. We could wallow in self-pity but that isn't going to do anyone any good. It's important we just focus on the next game."

Sunderland (probable): Davis; Hoyte, Caldwell, Breen, Collins; Lawrence, Miller, Whitehead, Arca; Le Tallec, Stead. Subs (from): Alnwick, Gray, Kyle, N Collins, Bassila, Woods, Nosworthy.

Middlesbrough (probable): Schwarzer; Parnaby, Southgate, Bates, Pogatetz; Mendieta, Cattermole, Doriva, Downing; Yakubu, Hasselbaink. Subs (from): Knight, Taylor, Wheater, Viduka, Maccarone, Johnson, Davies.

* Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is set to sign a two-year contract extension in the next few days.

The Czech Republic international has been instrumental in Chelsea's success since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004, helping the club to their first league title for 50 years and the Carling Cup last season.

He is now rated among the best goalkeepers in the world and Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho is anxious that the 23-year-old commits his long-term future to the club.

The player's current contract runs to 2008 but Cech has now been offered a new deal that will tie him to the club for a further two years and earn him £5m over five years.

His agent Pavel Zika confirmed: ''Talks are in progress and they are well on the way.''

Chelsea have also received a further boost with versatile Cameroon star Geremi making it clear he is happy at the club, even though he is not a regular in Mourinho's side.

The Cameroon international had forced his way into the side before leaving to link up with his country in the African Nations Cup in Egypt.

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