SOCCER/Battle for survival:Five players relive their battles on the final-day for Premiership survival

Geoff Thomas

(Crystal Palace captain when relegated after losing 3-0 at Arsenal on final day in 1993)

"What hurt most about relegation was that we weren't really prepared for it. It seemed to sneak up on us. We'd won our last home game a week earlier 3-1 against Ipswich and the lads had actually done a lap of honour.

We had 48 points, eight more than Oldham, who had three games to play in the last week. They beat Aston Villa, then - depressingly, incredibly - Liverpool, and through it all we had this nagging feeling because our last game was at Arsenal where we never did well.

They had a knack of rolling us over. We actually started quite brightly but little things turn seasons on the last afternoon. Ian Wright, of all people, scored for them - he'd enjoyed many a year with Palace but sentiment went out of the window that day and the stuffing was knocked out of us.

You're out there playing, trying your best, but you know you're sinking. When our fans stopped singing we knew Oldham were beating Southampton. You realise out on the pitch you're doomed. Their goal difference was enough to keep them up but all I could think about was where it had all gone so wrong.

The success we'd had a couple of years before, finishing third and getting to an FA Cup final, had suggested we were really going places. And there you are, chasing shadows at Arsenal without a hope.

We'd got 49 points, even in a mediocre season, which made it all a bit surreal, but when it really mattered we were stuffed 3-0 and went down. It was a dire day."

Lee Sharpe

(Bradford left back when Paul Jewell's side beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2000 to stay up)

"Everybody knew how important it was, a one-off game against Liverpool to survive in the Premiership; the pressure was huge so if we were going to perform it was important not to be too tense.

Paul Jewell was excellent. He was a young manager then but he held his nerve really well; he was cracking jokes in training, having a laugh, and he didn't communicate any fear to the players. He'll have been doing the same with the Wigan players this week.

We had to win so it wasn't a game where the tactics were too involved. We just felt we had a chance if we got into Liverpool and didn't let them dictate. We had to strike the right balance - be calm and not too pumped up - but be confident and go for it. David Wetherall scored his goal in the first half and we had our backs to the wall for a while.

In the second half we had a bit of a go but the last 20 minutes were a nail-biting, clinging-on battle. It was so desperate that even I was winning headers.

It was a carnival afterwards. I'd won three Premier League titles and the FA Cup with Manchester United but, in its way, this game was as big as any I played in."

Les Ferdinand

(West Ham striker when their 2-2 draw at Birmingham was not enough to survive in 2003)

"I'd only been at West Ham for five months or so going into that final game and the rot had arguably set in a long time before that. But the reason I went there in the first place was because I genuinely believed we'd stay in the Premiership. I hoped to play my part in achieving that.

That failure was the worst feeling in the world. There were times that season when, for whatever reason, we didn't have the fight or hunger we should have had. Maybe it was the tension. It was make or break, do or die, but some sides are tougher than others and can cope better.

When you're losing every week, you concede and think: 'Here we go again'. Heads go down, shoulders drop and it's hard to get out of that rut.

Our biggest problem was it was out of our hands on the final afternoon. Mathematically we still had a chance but that just makes it crueller. We had to win at Birmingham and hope Bolton failed to beat Middlesbrough at the Reebok.

Bolton went two up really quickly and the Birmingham fans were chanting: 'Going down, going down, going down'.

There was no big screen giving the scores but it filtered through to the players. That hits you and we were just treading water. We knew it was hopeless and whatever we did wasn't going to be enough. I scored, we led, then ended up drawing 2-2. It just felt as if we were doomed from the off."

Graham Stuart

(Everton forward's two goals in a 3-2 win over Wimbledon ensured survival in 1994)

"The emotion is less pride about what we achieved and more relief. Sure, we produced in the pressure of the moment, but it wasn't memorable. It was a horrible day and the overriding memory is of the tension.

Mike Walker, our manager, was a laid-back fella and preached to us before the game that it was a normal match when, really, we all knew it was much more than that.

At least it was in our own hands - if we won, we stayed up - but 20 minutes in it was turning into a nightmare. They went 2-0 up and we were shell-shocked.

The tension overwhelms you. It was scrappy, ugly, but Anders Limpar got a dubious penalty just before half-time. I blanked the tension, put it away and we had a lifeline.

If we'd been 2-0 down at half-time, needing three in the second half, it would have been hopeless. Instead we had this huge psychological lift. We all sat there saying: 'Pull yourself together. We can still win this'.

We went for it. Barry Horne smacked one in from 30 yards and we'd turned the corner.

The winner was perhaps the scrappiest goal I ever scored, a block tackle rather than a shot, but it hit a bobble and went over Hans Segers' outstretched hand.

The last few minutes were horrible but I guess the Big Man was smiling on us. Sometimes it boils down to that and that alone."

Antti Niemi

(Southampton's goalkeeper in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester United in 2005)

"The game on the final day was like the rest that season, because we were always in the bottom three or four.

We went one up but it wasn't to be. When you are actually relegated everyone reacts in a different way. We had a lot of players who were on loan who I don't think necessarily felt that horrible because they didn't have a contract with the club for the coming year. But there were also players who had been there a long time and were distraught.

Nobody was thinking about the after-season party; it was just a horrible day. I saw Rupert Lowe (then Southampton chairman) after the game and he just said, 'What a sad day for the club', and there was nothing I could say."

Permutations: Final relegation spot

Sheffield United, West Ham and Wigan are still fighting for survival. Charlton and Watford have already been relegated.

If Sheffield Unitedavoid defeat at home against Wigan, they will survive and condemn Paul Jewell's side to the Championship. Sheffield United can still survive with a defeat as long as West Ham lose and Sheffield do not relinquish their goal difference superiority of three by losing heavily.

If West Hamavoid defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United, they will stay up regardless of the result at Bramall Lane. If they lose, they will require Sheffield United to prevent Wigan from winning, or West Ham will need to lose by three goals fewer than Sheffield United.

Wiganhave the simplest equation of all.They have to win at Bramall Lane while relying on West Ham to lose at Manchester United in order to stay up.