Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia is backing Anton Ferdinand to bounce back from his howler at Portsmouth to help end the club's relegation fears.

The 24-year-old, an £8million summer signing from West Ham, has enjoyed a solid first season on Wearside, although at times he has fallen victim to the kind of momentary lapses in concentration which affected older brother Rio during the early days of his career.

At Portsmouth on Monday evening, the Londoner was guilty of a major blunder which allowed John Utaka to force Phil Bardsley to fire into his own net and put Pompey 2-1 ahead within minutes of Kenwyne Jones' opening goal.

The Black Cats went on to lose the game 3-1 and therefore pass up the opportunity to secure their Barclays Premier League status, and as a result they head into Sunday's final-day clash with Chelsea knowing victories for Newcastle and Hull would send them down if they lose.

But Sbragia said: "Anton has got enough belief in his game. He has made a mistake, it is as simple as that. But he can rectify it on Sunday.

"We have spoken about it and he understands he made a terrible mistake. We all make mistakes in life and unfortunately, he did it on the telly as well."