KEVIN Ball has angrily attacked the BBC's Match of the Day programme, labelling its presenters as disrespectful to Sunderland.

The caretaker boss was incensed by comments made following the 2-0 defeat at Bolton ten days ago.

After the highlights of the game at the Reebok had been aired, Ball was upset by the attitude towards the club of presenter Gary Lineker and expert summariser Alan Hansen.

"I have the utmost admiration for the team on Match of the Day because their players have been there, seen it and done it," said Ball.

"It's a great programme full of good humour and laughs but I felt they overstepped the mark.

"I don't imagine that they set out to offend us but I was watching it with a glass of wine in my hand after a tough day down at the Reebok and it disappointed and upset me.

"I felt it was disrespectful to the staff here, disrespectful to the players, disrespectful to the club and its supporters.

"I sensed that Mr Hansen realised that himself by the end of the piece. I think he was a bit embarrassed when he probably realised it wasn't as funny as he thought it was going to be.

"It was wrong to have a go at us."

The programme questioned why Ball and his coaching team stayed on the pitch at half-time - a point that particularly irked the 41-year-old.

It also poked fun at the exercise routines the Black Cats' players have undergone prior to the start of the second half in many games this term.

"Yes, myself and the staff stayed out in the dug-out for a few minutes after the players went off the pitch at half-time but it was important for us to confer before going in there," he said. "In the first few minutes of players coming off the pitch at half-time, they don't sit down anyway and get talked to.

"The other clips they showed were similarly unfair.

"For example the exercise routines at half-time which we did earlier in the season are based on documented sports science findings, which show that they can be helpful for players over the course of the game.

"Really it was something made out of nothing and I was just a bit disappointed in the programme for doing what it did.

"I was annoyed but I was angry more for the players and for the fans because it's a tough enough time that we are all going through anyway without them having to do something like that."

* Julio Arca is a doubt for Saturday's trip to Everton, where the Black Cats' Premier league fate could be resolved.

If they lose at Goodison Park and West Brom beat Liverpool then relegation will be conformed on Saturday night.

Arca completed 90 minutes in the 1-0 home defeat against Blackburn but complained of hamstring problems after the game.

"I felt it during the game but it was not that bad," said Arca. "I'll only play against Everton if I'm 100 per cent fit."

Skipper Steve Caldwell is also struggling with a hamstring injury picked up against Rovers.

* Cardiff boss Dave Jones is refusing to rule out a move away from south Wales, with the former Wolves and Southampton manager one of those believed to be on Sunderland's shortlist.

"I have a massive job to do here and while I'm manager I'll give it everything I have," said Jones.

"I'm happy here and my family have settled.

"But you can never say never in football, you don't know what's round the corner."

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