Sunderland will tonight attempt to begin in earnest the quest for a top-two Coca-Cola Championship finish that manager Roy Keane has ordered.
The Black Cats do not have obvious prospects of making ground on leaders Derby and second-placed Birmingham, who have winnable home fixtures against Burnley and Southend respectively.
But the Wearsiders - who have signed six new players in the transfer window following the arrival of striker Stern John from Coventry yesterday - have mounted a genuine challenge for the play-off places in recent weeks.
And with three of their next four matches coming at the Stadium of Light, they will hope to make home advantage tell and increase the pressure on the pace-setters.
'There is definitely a good feeling around the club and among the supporters,' said Keane ahead of the visit of Crystal Palace.
'But we want that at the end of the season. We want that feelgood factor - that we have had a good season.'
Keane knows it will be far from easy to overhaul the in-form teams at the top of the table.
'Credit to the teams above us; they keep winning, so we seem to be on the edge all the time,' he said.
'If it needs to be that we get into the play-offs on the last day of the season, then that is something we will have to accept.
'But we need to be in a position to pounce if there are any slip-ups from the teams ahead of us.'
