LIAM Lawrence has appealed to Sunderland's travelling army to act as the side's twelfth man in Sunday's crucial Coca Cola Championship clash at Ipswich.

The Tractor Boys failed to close the gap on their Championship rivals on Monday evening when they crashed to Glenn Hoddle's Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in front of the Sky cameras.

And with Sunderland suffering a setback at home to Reading on Saturday, and Wigan winning at Cardiff, it makes next weekend's live televised match a must-win game for both sides.

Lawrence, however, insists the Wearsiders still have the upper hand. He believes the club's fanatical away following holds the key to yet another away victory and expects them to roar the club one step closer to the Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

"The away support has been frightening," admitted the 23-year-old midfielder.

"At QPR and Wigan it was unbelievable. And we filled the stand at Crewe as well. When you see that it gives you such a big boost."

The crowd at the Stadium of Light on Saturday - Sunderland's second largest of the season - were strangely subdued, which is puzzling considering the home side played so well for 70 minutes.

"I think the crowd were on edge," added Lawrence. "We created quite a few chances in the first-half so they were quite noisy. But when they (Reading) scored and a few passes went astray they started to get at us a bit.

"Sometimes it can be a disadvantage to play at home. We have recently done very well away and maybe gone into our shell at home. But I'm sure the fans will get behind us now and we should win our last few games."

The Ipswich defeat at Wolves means Sunderland still head the Championship table by five points and the result had Lawrence dancing, literally, in front of the TV.

"I was jumping about my living room at the end. Wolves played really well and could have had more to be honest."

Should Sunderland win on Sunday their Premiership status would be all but guaranteed.

Lawrence believes they will be one step closer after the game and says he has spotted a weakness in the Tractor Boys' line up.

He said: "I think after watching the game their formation might suit us. They play three at the back, five across the middle and two up front.

"We have a lot of attacking players who can get around the back and exploit them getting down the wings and in the channels."

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