'Control freak' Alex Neil says Sunderland must dictate at Sheffield Wednesday

Self-confessed 'control freak' Alex Neil goes into tonight's play-off semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday determined to avoid the kind of 'kamikaze football' that cost Manchester City dear against Real Madrid. The Black Cats take a 1-0 lead to Hillsborough for the second leg, with Ross Stewart's goal giving them the advantage after Friday's clash on Wearside.

Sunderland controlled the game at the Stadium of Light for 70 minutes or so, before Wednesday began to apply some pressure late in the game. Neil expects a more open game in the return leg because the Owls know they must start on the front foot if they are to come from behind, and his task is to come up with a formula that ensures Sunderland dictate the game as they did on Friday.

And he cites last week's incredible late turnaround in City's Champions League semi-final against Real, which saw the Spanish giants score two goals in injury-time and another in extra-time to turn a 5-3 aggregate deficit into a 6-5 victory, as an example of what can go wrong when a team loses control. "I want an open game, but I want us to be in control of it," he said.

"I'm quite comfortable in admitting that I am a bit of control freak in terms of matches. If I don't feel that I'm in control, I need to change something.

"Obviously, there's only so much control you can have from the side of the pitch but providing I understand where their threat comes from, where we're vulnerable and how to protect it, and the lads understand all of that, I'm happy. The biggest fear for me was probably the last 10 minutes on Friday, when everyone was tired, nobody can hear you, the fans are all up, I'm trying to get information out on the pitch and people are going where they shouldn't be going - that's