REPUBLIC of Ireland international Niall Quinn last night issued a heartfelt plea to manager Peter Reid on the eve of Sunderland's last home game on the season against Charlton this afternoon: "Good luck in the transfer market - but don't cast me aside."

The 33-year-old Dubliner is aware that buying a top-class striker will be the priority for the ambitious Wearside boss this summer, but he believes that he still has at least another season left in the top flight.

Reid has made it clear that he is determined to bring in a successful hit-man and recently failed in his attempts to lure international players like French striker Pierre-Yves Andre and Slovakian Szilard Nemeth.

Quinn knows that he will be under pressure for his place if Reid does make a multi-million pounds signing during the close season -but he believes he still has a lot to offer.

He said: "I would probably welcome any big signing at the club and I would like to think that after what I have achieved here I would not just be cast aside and in some way I would still have a lot to offer.

"The days of 11 players lasting out the season are history now, as this season has proved for us. With squad systems and everything else I would not consider it to be the end for me here.

"I am really determined to come back next season and throw in my lot and give back to the club what the club has given me over the last five years.

"I want to walk away from here with nothing left in the tank."

Quinn has never flinched at battling through the pain barrier to help the Sunderland cause, but he admits it has been a considerable strain, both mentally and physically, because of a persistent back injury.

He explained: "It has been a difficult year for me and I am looking forward to the rest in the summer.

"I want to come back and be fit for every game rather than stopping and starting like it has been this year.

"From Christmas onwards it has been hard mentally and physically --physically because I haven't been able to play my best and mentally because I have gone into games knowing I can't give my best. It has been a difficult time.

"If we'd been winning games I probably wouldn't have noticed."

He added: "I have to come back and give it everything I've got from pre-season onwards after spending the summer getting myself right.

"I want to come back and be able to throw my hat into the ring."

Quinn believes that Sunderland are much better off for strikers than the club was when he first made his £1.2m move from Manchester City five years ago.

He said: "It is a far healthier situation than the day I joined the club - then we were probably relying on a couple of youngster alongside Paul Stewart.

"It was very thin in terms of back-up, but now we have players like Michael Reddy, who could be anything depending how far he wants to go, and Kevin Kyle who Peter Reid rightly points out was a better player at 19 than I was. One thing he has got which I never had was pace, which could take him a long way.

"I will be trying to help him along and if his application is right he has got a great chance. So far he has improved beyond all recognition from the day he walked in here.

"If he keeps believing in himself and applying himself he could got a long way.

"Add to that there could be a big signing coming and add to that Kevin Phillips and Danny Dichio and it is a really healthy situation compared to when I first came to the club when we only had Paul Stewart and possibly Craig Russell and Michael Bridges."

Quinn is optimistic that Sunderland could still snatch a late entry into Europe if they can win their last two matches, against Charlton today and at Everton is two weeks' time.

He said: "Chelsea have to finish with two difficult games against Manchester City and Liverpool.

"I know the spirit at Manchester City - they really fancy their chances of staying up - they are not looking over their shoulder and wobbling - they are giving it everything.

Points could change hands there and Liverpool have to play Chelsea at home, which is a game Liverpool will be looking to win to guarantee a Champions League place.

"We have got a home match against Charlton and all we can do is try to post three points on the board."

l The Sasa Ilic fairytale re-embraces its most famous chapter today when Charlton face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

It was against the Wearsiders, of course, that the globetrotting goalkeeper, who had been plucked from non-League obscurity, famously made a name for himself in the Division One play-off success at Wembley in May 1998.

But it has been far from all roses for the Australian-born stopper since his sprawling save from Michael Gray in the penalty shoot-out ensured Charlton's promotion to the top flight.

Just five months after playing the protagonist in that 4-4 epic, a combination of teammate Richard Rufus and Chelsea striker Pierluigi Casiraghi clattered into him at Stamford Bridge. The result was prolonged concussion and a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Despite sporadic recalls to the starting XI, he was no longer first-choice by the time Alan Curbishley began masterminding the Addicks' second promotion in three years last term.

A loan move to West Ham proved disastrous with his solitary match a 4-0 home drubbing by Everton last February.

Yet, a little over 14 months later a philosophical Ilic is on another steep up curve, having kept five clean sheets in 11 Premiership games., ''My life seems to be a fairytale story and all the time I am going from one extreme to the other,'' said Ilic.

''I learned a lot in the 18 months I was not playing and have a new mentality."