Wanderers might have conceded the title to Sunderland but the importance of tomorrow's showdown at the Stadium of Light is undiminished. They can't catch Reid's runaways but they can make the rest of the promotion chasers take them seriously again.

"I don't think people have actually stopped talking about us but they have seen us go through an indifferent spell," Claus Jensen acknowledged as Colin Todd's hit squad headed for the North-east in determined mood.

"The other teams have taken advantage of that and they've been winning their games. It just shows how consistent you have to be in this division.

"It's amazing that we've only lost six games yet we are down in fifth place. That's why it's so important to get a good performance and, more importantly, a good result tomorrow."

A month ago it was being billed as a Championship decider - the clash of the Nationwide League heavyweights - but a return of just six points out of a possible 18 has pulled the rug from under Wanderers' feet. Now they've got to hit back if they are to regain the momentum that had them quoted as second favourites, behind Sunderland, for automatic promotion.

Stopping the slide caused by a five-match winless streak was more important than the actual performance against QPR but there were moments of brilliance in the 2-1 win - noteably the move Jensen orchestrated to set up the second of Bob Taylor's brace.

It was further evidence of the young Dane's growing impact on English football after a period of acclimatisation following his £1.6 milion summer transfer from Lyngby.

Denmark coach Bo Johansson had always been impressed by his technical ability but, after seeing him in the flesh against Barnsley, acknowledged the strides he's made on the physical aspects of midfield work and had no hesitation in naming him again in his U-21 squad yesterday.

"It's nice to hear people talk that way," Jensen says modestly, "I just think I'm getting forward a bit more.

"That's my strength, it always has been and I think the way the team has been playing, we'll always create and score goals. But we also know that we've had some defensive problems, which we have to solve as a team.

"The QPR game was very important for us. We'd had that indifferent spell and it was important for our confidence that we got as win. Now, hopefully, we can get another tomorrow."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.