KEVIN PHILLIPS feels he has a kindred spirit in Michael Owen as the weight of expectation grows greater in Sunderland's winter of discontent.

Phillips aims to lift some of the gloom around the Stadium of the Light this afternoon by shooting his side into the last eight of the FA Cup at the expense of former club Watford.

But such success would only be temporary respite for the rock-bottom Wearsiders before they resume their desperate struggle against relegation with a derby visit from Middlesbrough in a week's time.

Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson is looking to Phillips, who has rediscovered his goal touch with four in the last five games, to lead the fight on both fronts.

But the 29-year-old striker admits it is a heavy burden, not unlike that which Owen carries for club and country.

The Liverpool star is suffering the sort of lean spell Phillips endured in the first half of the season when he fought his way back to fitness following two hernia operations.

Phillips went under the knife for a second time after the opening four games, and scored only once in his first 13 appearances this term.

Owen, who missed two glorious chances during his first-half run-out in England's 3-1 defeat by Australia this week, has scored just twice in his last 14 outings for Liverpool and gone over a month without a Premiership strike.

It's no coincidence that Liverpool's title hopes have all but vanished, and Phillips insists he can empathise with Owen.

Sunderland's record post-war scorer with 129 goals to date - and winner of Europe's Golden Shoe with 30 top-flight strikes three years ago - Phillips has managed only eight this season in all competitions, and confesses: "I probably feel an extra weight of expectation on my shoulders now.

"I've had that since I walked in through the door here nearly six years ago.

"Expectations are high and, because I've set myself high standards, I have to accept that. It's only natural I feel that expectation more than ever now.

"The classic example is Michael Owen at Liverpool. Because they're going through a sticky patch and he's been the best centre-forward in the country and isn't scoring, he's being singled out.

"It's a lower-level situation here, but it's exactly the same case. We've not been performing as a team so, to some extent, I've been singled out because I haven't scored 20 or 30 goals this season.

"I'm not moaning about it; it's something I can handle. I feel I'm hitting form now. I'm back among the goals, which has given me masses of confidence.

"Every time I go on the pitch it feels like the old days - like I'm going to score every time.

"It was frustrating six weeks ago when I was going into games wondering where a chance was going to come from.

"When I'm not scoring, I'm quite miserable - just ask my wife!

"But we're creating a few more chances now and and if I keep taking them, hopefully that will be enough to pull us away from the bottom.

"When Howard first came, it was my first game after six weeks out and it takes time to get your fitness back. I had two hernias in two months and it was a lot to take on board.

"Peter Reid had brought in Tore Andre Flo and Marcus Stewart to take a bit off my shoulders, but I don't feel that has been the case.''

Mention of England touches a raw nerve with Phillips, who won the last of his eight caps just over a year ago.

"England doesn't mean an awful lot to me,'' he insisted. "I only watched the first half of the game the other night. It would be daft for me to talk about England.''

Phillips is equally tetchy on the subject of relegation, and refuses to let that threat distract him from today's fifth-round meeting with the club who launched his senior career.

"I don't want to talk about relegation,'' he snapped. "Of course we have to be confident we can stay up - it's in our own hands.

"But this week we're concentrating on the cup. I'd like to win the cup and stay up; a bit of silverware would be fantastic.

"But if I had a choice it would be to stay in the Premiership. That's our sole priority.

"The pressure from the Premiership is off this weekend. If we keep playing the way we are in the cup, we could go all the way and win it.

"We've beaten Bolton and Blackburn in the cup but we've let ourselves down in the Premiership in between.

"In hindsight, we'd swap it all to be safe in the Premiership.

"But a cup run is good for the fans. Hopefully we'll have better support than we had here for the last two cup ties.

"I don't want to speak for the supporters. They're frustrated and disappointed, as are the players; we feel we're better than our league position tells us.''

Phillips, whose arrival from Watford for £650,000 was by far former boss Reid's shrewdest piece of business, marked his home Premiership debut with a brace against the Hornets.

"My first two Premiership goals were against my old club,'' said Phillips, who has scored in both rounds of the cup. "My record against Watford is pretty good and I'll be looking to continue that.

"Watford has a special place in my heart and always will. Going there was a break for me in my career.

"But all my ties with Watford have virtually disappeared. I think there are only two or three people left from my time there - Paul Robinson the full-back, Nigel Gibbs who is reserve-team coach, and Tommy Smith the centre-foward.

"I was lucky to see them on the Friday before we played Tottenham last week, because we trained at Watford's training ground."

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