THERE is no danger of Mick McCarthy adopting 'Mad Dog' Martin Allen's approach to football management as he attempts to steer Sunderland past Brentford and into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

But there could have been a frost-bitten Julio Arca dipping into the North Sea this week - had the South American not got cold feet when he was told to go for a dip.

It was Bees boss Allen, appropriately given his nickname by Harry Redknapp during his days as a player at West Ham, who reverted to throwing himself into freezing waters ahead of FA Cup ties last season.

When Brentford arrived in the North-East to face Hartlepool United for a date with Southampton in the next round, Allen dived into the River Skerne to prove a point to his squad after spending the night before the game at Darlington's Blackwell Grange.

The end result was that Brentford overcame Pool in a replay so he repeated the crazy antics ahead of their trip to St Mary's by diving head first into The Solent.

McCarthy, for one, will not be following Allen's lead. Choosing to suggest that Sunderland's squad are motivated enough without having to witness their boss go for an outdoor swim in inclement conditions.

"Those kind of motivational games don't appeal to me. Fair play to him, it's publicity for his team, he's not doing anyone any harm and he certainly got the headlines," said McCarthy.

"I've never threatened to swim in the North Sea. I always threaten Julio with that but he looks at me funny, then I look round and think where the hell has he gone?"

McCarthy's belief may not be to become over-excited with motivational games but he did adopt one particular approach during Sunderland's push to the semi-final of the FA Cup two years ago.

The Yorkshireman had his players watching a video of the 1973 FA Cup triumph on the team coach on the way to the ground before defeating Birmingham City in the fifth round - something he continued to do for the remainder of the competition.

"I do what I do, I don't think our lads lack motivation, I've never really gone into that; when we got to the semi-final we had a Bob Stokoe video but we didn't win the cup so it was hardly a lucky omen," said McCarthy.

"There's lots of strange things go on in dressing rooms before games and they are not necessarily motivational things. Sometimes when you've lost, sometimes when you've won.

"We could try to change the kick off to 5.15pm after last week. That seemed to work for us so hopefully we will be given a few more of those."

Last week's success at The Hawthorns was only Sunderland's second win in 17 games - the only other one of those was against non-league Northwich Victoria in the last round of the cup.

Three points at long last in the Premiership has certainly given the training ground a new lease of life, but McCarthy knows that could all be undone if they fail to overcome Brentford.

"It was a different feeling doing a press conference talking about a victory last week," he said. "It's a case of building a winning run whatever the match, it's going to be hard fought, we know what FA Cup ties are like.

"It makes a huge difference when you win but you have to do it again and again. It's a repeat performance of how we played and the victory we're looking for.

"It's no use doing it as a one-off. We'd like to get two or three wins on the bounce and then who knows?"

Given that Brentford are riding high in League One - they are four points off the top in fourth spot - there is the potential for an upset at Griffin Park.

And McCarthy has told his players, many of whom had only played below the Premiership until this season, to guard against complacency.

"I watched them against Nottingham Forest (a 1-1 draw on January 17) and they're a competitive side with a quick front four," he said.

"All round they look a very solid unit.

"If I was a Brentford supporter I'd like what I saw and Martin will have them wound up to fever pitch on Saturday and the crowd will be and it'll be tough but we can cope with that."