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'Sunderland have the emotional story' - McAnuff

Sunderland players celebrate their last minute equaliser against Coventry with the stadium scoreboard showing 'Goal'Rex Features

Sunderland finished fourth in the final Championship table, one place but 14 points behind Sheffield United

Sunderland's dramatic play-off semi-final win over Coventry City will have given them belief they can beat Sheffield United in Saturday's Championship final, according to former Reading and Crystal Palace winger Jobi McAnuff.

The Black Cats scored a last-minute goal against the Sky Blues to secure a 3-2 aggregate win and McAnuff, who lost a Championship final with Reading in 2011 before winning promotion the following season, thinks that could strengthen their resolve.

"Sunderland have the emotional story, the euphoria of that last-minute goal from Dan Ballard," McAnuff told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"That's hard to quantify because, on the balance of play, they weren't the better team over the two legs but they found a way to win so you're bringing that belief you can win a game regardless of how they played."

Sunderland had considerably less possession than Coventry over the course of the semi-final including just 26% in their 2-1 victory in the first leg and McAnuff thinks it could be hard to beat the Blades if they play the same way at Wembley.

"I think Sunderland have shown the togetherness and belief to get through the semi-final - I just feel they need to keep the ball better so they're not doing as much work off the ball as they can be tough days if you're not seeing a lot of it."

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