'It's up to us' - Alex Pritchard opens up on Sunderland bid to end four-year stay in League One

Alex Pritchard has little time for the hackneyed notion that a club of Sunderland's stature should not be languishing in League One. "Everyone says that, and I understand why, but the reality is that the club is in League One and it has been for four years - that's the situation," the midfielder sighs as he looks at the floor in a spartan sideroom at the Academy of Light.

Raising his head to make direct eye contact and in a determined voice, he adds: "It's up to us to change that situation."

And that is the nub of it, as Sunderland head to Wembley for this weekend's League One play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers. After three failed play-off bids in the last four seasons already, nothing can be taken for granted.

If the Black Cats are to end their unwanted stay in the third tier, they are going to have to earn their place in the Championship the hard way. But that prospect does not faze Pritchard, as he gears up for one final push.

"If we can get over the line then we all know what it will mean to the supporters, to the staff, and to the city," the former Spurs, Norwich, and Huddersfield man told ChronicleLive. "We just have to go into the final with a clear mind, and if we play our game and work as hard as we know we can as a team and as a unit, I'm pretty sure we can do it.

"We have got one game left and we have given ourselves a great opportunity, but we know what Wycombe are like - they are a good team and they have got players who have done it before, so we have to go there, stamp our authority on the match, play our game, and get the job done."

Much has been made of Sunderland's play-off record, with the club having yet to win in the end-of-season contests in six attempts at various levels dating back 35