Sunderland Aim To Turn Their Power Back On

Régis Le Bris unconcerned by five consecutive losses as road to Wembley starts at resurgent Coventry

- Louise Taylor

Sunderland's players are unlikely to forget Monday 28 April anytime soon. The squad were in Portugal, settling into a pre-playoff training camp, when the lights went out as one of Europe's biggest power cuts plunged the Iberian peninsula into chaos.

Although Régis Le Bris made light of the inconvenience and emphasised that the Algarve sunshine had been "re-energising", no one is quite sure whether he has managed to fix his team's own electrical faults. There was certainly no sign of a backup generator restoring the attacking power as Sunderland returned from the Atlantic coast to lose 1-0 to QPR at the Stadium of Light last Saturday, their fifth straight defeat.

Although they have been in a form of limbo since sealing a playoff place in early April, a significant improvement will be required if Sunderland are to overcome a Coventry side reborn under Frank Lampard's management in tonight's semi-final first leg in the Midlands.