Ball: We'll keep fighting

Sunderland caretaker boss Kevin Ball says his side will continue to fight to the end.

Ball takes charge of his first away match for The Black Cats when The Premiership's bottom club travel to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Despite relegation being a near certainty for the Wearsiders, Ball believes his players have shown the right attitude ahead of their trip to The Reebok.

"We approach things one game at a time," Ball told a Sunderland press conference.

"We have to go there confident we can get a result or there is no point in going there at all, is there?

"We have to go there with a degree of confidence and as long as we match them, we've got a chance.

"The biggest thing is the spirit is very good within the players and it has to be that way.

"For me, in any team, no matter if you're top of the league or bottom of the league, you have to have a strong team spirit and they have got that here and that will get them results."

Ball knows his players face a difficult time when they meet Sam Allardyce's side, but stated that his team must look to win the contest.

"I think Bolton are a good side," he added. "I think Sam has done tremendous with them and we know it will be a very difficult game on Saturday.

"I do think they have some quality players and are a very good team.

"I think our fans will expect us to go there and try and win and I think if they didn't, you'd be disappointed with that.

"We know it's going to be difficult and we know we have to match them physically and we'll go there and we'll have a right go at doing that."

Meanwhile, Sunderland defender Neill Collins has been recalled from his loan at Championship high-flyers Sheffield United.