Confident Hall: We can make it; Coca Cola CHAMPIONSHIP CHARLTON v SKY BLUES The Valley Sunday 2.00pm.

Byline: By Andy Turner 

EXPECT a roller-coaster ride . . . that's the message from Coventry City campaigner Marcus Hall ahead of the club's 11th last-day battle for survival since they joined the top flight in 1967.

The 32-year-old defender remembers all too clearly the Sky Blues' greatest escape of all, more than a decade ago when City beat Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart Lane on a day when they had to win and rely on results going their way as well.

Sunday's match at Charlton is far from the doom and gloom scenario that faced the club that day, but Hall believes it will be every much as tense.

"I remember it well," he said. "I did not play but I was in the squad and down in the dugout and it was very exciting, although not in a good way.

"The most vivid thing I recall is people in the crowd with their little radios clutched to their ears and every now and again they would start cheering if a goal was scored elsewhere and results were going our way.

"But then you would hear groans if it was going the other way. You tried to put it to the back of your mind but it was quite funny at times because it bore no relation to what was happening on the pitch.

"So one of our players might have been fouled and all of a sudden there would be a big cheer from our fans and we would know that something had gone our way. It was a real rollercoaster and great atmosphere but fortunately we were all right in the end."

City, of course, stayed up courtesy of first half goals from Dion Dublin and Paul Williams on a day when Sunderland lost and Middlesbrough drew, resulting in both going down.

When City finally fell through the trap door in 2001 they were sent down at Villa Park in the penultimate game, and since then the club have had a number of battles but always been safe before the final day.

Hall was also involved in a last gasp clash during his time at Stoke when they beat Reading 1-0 to avoid the drop.

"As a player you know exactly how big the game is," he said. "We don't need to be told what's at stake. All the players are up for it on Sunday and if they weren't then they shouldn't be in the game.

"We know we have to do the business and we have got to be up for it more than we have ever been. Managers can say their bit but this is where the players earn their money.

"We have always been very confident we would stay up because we are not playing that badly and I feel we haven't got the results we deserve.

"We were all disappointed that West Brom didn't do us a favour on Monday night against Southampton because it would have been nice to go to Charlton without any pressure."

And although Hall is not expected to start the game ahead of young defenders Scott Dann and Danny Fox, he will certainly get involved in the dressing room.

"I have been giving the lads advice for a while now," he revealed, "especially if they are up against players I have played against before that they haven't.

"I genuinely want them to do well because I want what's best for the club, so there are no hard feelings because they are playing in the two positions I can play in.

"There are a lot of young lads in the squad and a lot have never experienced anything like this before, so it is important that players like myself, and Michael and Stephen Hughes help them out as much as possible."

While City cannot rely on any favours from elsewhere, he believes his old club Stoke are destined for victory over Leicester.

"The three teams below us are under a lot more pressure than us," he said. "Stoke have got to win at the other end and I am sure they will get a result. But we can't think about anyone else. We just have to concentrate on doing our job and we will be fine.

"It will be very tense for the fans who are always magnificent for us, but, hopefully, we will repay their support with the result we need."

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CLOSE CALL ...Marcus Hall, who has known the tension of last-day survival battles. Picture: Richard Nelmes