Teemu Tainio

By The Black Cats
May 8 2009

Teemu Tainio has described Sunderland's match at the Reebok on Saturday as the club's "biggest game of the season." The Finland international has called on his team-mates to up their game to maintain their league status following disappointing defeats to West Bromwich Albion and Everton. Tainio admitted that it is now time for the team to deliver, especially with 5,000 fans travelling down to Bolton to give their support to the lads.

"This is our biggest game of the season, by far," said the 29-year-old, who was an unused substitute for the Everton fixture aster sustaining a slight knee injury.

"It's absolutely huge.

"We know that we need to pick up points at Bolton and three would be perfect. Even one might be acceptable, but winning the game is in the uppermost of our minds and that's what we'll be going out to do.

"There is only one thing that matters now and that's to get enough points to stay in the Premier League. 

"It's not easy to play Bolton away from home, but we're ready for it. If we can win, we will have gone a long way to making ourselves safe.

"It's up to us. It's in our own hands. We have three games to prove that we deserve to play in the Premier League and we need three points badly.

"Every time we go away, we take loads of Sunderland supporters with us. They have been brilliant to us all season and now we have to give something back to them.

"They can - and do - make such a different to the team. So many of them travel around the country to see us. We know that Bolton will be a big test for us on Saturday, but I'm really confident that we can pass it.

"We have to concentrate on our own game. We know that we'll be in for a tough physical battle, but we have the players to handle that.

"The mood has been good and there's a determination as well. We can all tell that there's a big game coming up, but that's one of the reasons why we all play football. This is the kind of challenge we have to be up for, the kind of atmosphere we should relish playing in.

"It is easy to say these things. We know that. But it doesn't mean anything if we don't produce it on the pitch. That's what we have to do on Saturday."