SUNDERLAND striker Marcus Stewart is hoping his play-off experience will help to fire the Black Cats back into the Premiership next month.

Mick McCarthy's side will book their spot in the end of season lottery if they beat Crewe at the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

And Stewart knows all about what lies in wait after experiencing play-off agony and ecstasy in the past.

The 31-year-old was part of the Bristol Rovers side that made it to Wembley in 1995, only to lose 2-1 to Huddersfield in the Division Two final.

But he enjoyed a somewhat happier time five years later when Ipswich overcame Bolton at the semi-final stage, before booking their place in the top-flight with a thrilling 4-2 win over Barnsley.

The play-offs are a unique part of the footballing calendar, and Stewart admits that they create a pressure all of their own.

"The play-offs are very different to the rest of the season," said the striker, who currently tops Sunderland's scoring charts with 14 goals.

"It's a different feeling altogether.

"I was involved with Bristol Rovers when we lost in the final, and I was involved with Ipswich when we won in the final.

"I'm a fan of the play-offs - I think they're a great spectacle. It keeps the interest going and, if you get to the final and get through, it's the best way to get promoted other than being champions.

"The three games involved are all pressure games, and I think a bit of experience does help in this situation.

"It's a semi-final and a final so you've got to treat it like that. We've had a semi-final this season and lost it, but we know what it involves.

"You've got to be able to produce over two games and, if we get through that, there'll be one more game to play in the final.

"It's going to be difficult. You need a bit of luck to get through it, but you can't go into any of the games and be cautious."

Ipswich finished the domestic campaign in third position when they won the play-offs but, since then, only one other third-placed side has made it to the Premiership via the play-off route.

Wolves were promoted last season after finishing just fifth, but they were unbeaten in their final nine games of the league campaign.

"I think the team that has an advantage in the play-offs is the team that makes a late run to get there," admitted Stewart.

"Any team that just sneaks into sixth place will be on a high because they won't be expecting to get there and they've probably won their last five or six games.

"That's the team that you don't want to get. It's going to be difficult whoever you play, but a team that's got their tails up like Crystal Palace will be in with a great shout.

"That's why we need to do as well as we can in our last three games to try to get a bit of momentum going."

If Sunderland are to book their play-off spot tomorrow, they are going to have to break a goalscoring duck that has now stretched to more than six hours of football.

Stewart has been found himself squeezed out in favour of Kevin Kyle, Darren Byfield and Tommy Smith in recent weeks, but the Bristol-born striker was back in the starting line-up for last weekend's game at Wigan.

Mick McCarthy's rotation policy hasn't produced the required result in recent weeks and, while Stewart won't be banging on the manager's door ahead of tomorrow's game, he feels his early-season exploits show exactly what he is capable of.

"The manager knows what I can do," said Stewart.

"I got 14 goals in 26 league games at the start of the season and that speaks for itself.

"It's just a question of being patient and getting on with it. There are four strikers at the club and we've all got to try to get goals.

"We haven't in the last four games, but some of those have been very frustrating because teams have just been sitting back. We've got games to put it right. We've got Crewe coming up and I'm sure whoever plays will be confident of breaking the duck."

Sunderland have confirmed that midfielder Paul Thirlwell will miss the rest of the campaign after fracturing his skull playing for the reserves.

Thirlwell was finally allowed to leave a Liverpool hospital yesterday but he has been told not play again for the Black Cats until pre-season.

The middle-man suffered the injury when he clashed heads with Everton defender Steven Schumacher at Southport in Tuesday night's second-string match.

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