DAWN WAS not far off but to the 6ft 4in figure stretched out in the darkness, it felt like brightness was weeks rather than hours away. With a long and forgetful sleep desired, drinks had been taken yet the eyes of the man on the bed remained wide open and fixed on the ceiling. All night.

Niall Quinn will always remember the early hours of Monday May 6th, one year ago. For the first time in the huge Irishman's 14 year career, serious failure had crossed his path and Quinn freely admits that he was struggling to cope. The previous afternoon, Manchester City had slipped through the Premiership grate into the first division and, this being City, had done so in a most farcical manner.

Needing to beat Liverpool at home to avoid relegation, City were two down at half time. Clawing their way back to 0-2 the City management received a message from a man in the crowd that one point would do. City started playing for a draw and it was only after the final whistle had gone, that some realised they were down.

A year on and Quinn, 30, now with Sunderland, finds himself again snagged in the relegation thicket. Once again he faces the final match on the final day knowing that a point could be enough, but that only victory at Wimbledon will assure his team's Premiership survival.

These are omens to make even a calm big lad like Quinn anxious and as he sat at Roker Park recalling the last day of last season, it became clear that the pain and the memories, are still fresh.

Football's vocabulary is hardly famous for its restraint, but when Quinn talked of the "shell shock" of last May, justification for such language lies in the Dubliner's logic.

"The thing with relegation, or failure," said Quinn, "is that it is a part of the game you can't miss out on, you just have to go through that horrible suffering. You see, when you win you miss out on the glory nights, going out on the beer with the lads. Take Peter Beardsley, I hear that after Cup finals he would go home, get some fish and chips and watch Match of the Day, or whatever. So you can miss that.

"But when you go down, when you're relegated, nobody can escape and as a person you are not equipped to deal with that. When your whole life, right from passing your first trial, has been about bettering yourself and getting yourself on the big stage, you are never trained how to deal with relegation.

Not even the experience of last year would make it any more bearable if it happened again tomorrow and, in fact, said Quinn: "It'll be worse. Two seasons in a row would knock the stuffing out of me".

Quinn, however, is optimistic that Sunderland will stay up and contrasted the relative stability of Roker with the chaos at Maine Road.

He said "panic" and "tension" characterised City, factors evident in the final minutes of the final game. "At one stage," recalled the still slightly bewildered Quinn, "thinking 2-2 was enough, Stevie Lomas was instructed to hold the ball up in the corner.

"I had gone off 15 minutes from time and was watching it on TV in the referee's room. So I had to run up the tunnel and get the message on that we needed another. I actually ran 40 yards past the dugout to tell Lomy because the dugout had been given the wrong information by a man with a radio nearby. Confusion - that really summed up the last few weeks at Man City."

With City down. Quinn was soon out initially, it seemed, to Malaysia but ultimately, to his old boss Peter Reid at Sunderland. However, for the club, and Quinn personally, progress has been hesitant. After seven games Sunderland were 10th, Quinn had scored three and thought they were "going all right". Then he snapped his cruciate.

The injury kept Quinn out until the beginning of last month. He still has three goals and significantly, one more would make him joint top scorer. It is not difficult to see where Sunderland have laboured, yet Reid bought no replacement. Was Quinn not surprised?

Laughing, he replied: "No, and the last thing I want is some £5 million six foot four centre forward coming in. Anyway, Peter prefers different players, players with passion. Sometimes they are harder to come by. Some one like Bally Kevin Ball - what's he worth to us? People don't understand that to us, he's probably worth as much as Cantona to Man United.

"Or Chris Waddle - £75,000? If we stay up, he'll be the steal of the century. He may be 90 per cent of what he was, but what he was fantastic. He's brought us flair, quality and hope."

The 15,000 Sunderland fans expected at Selhurst Park will be high on the latter, as is Quinn who is hoping for a "quiet couple of pints" at his Sedgefield local tomorrow night.

If you see him there pat him on the back because Quinn is one Guardian reader yet to exorcise his blues. Be sensitive too - he may jest be putting off another long night staring at the ceiling.