Fulham boss Chris Coleman is desperate for his side to avoid the unwanted record of going through the entire season without an away victory in the Premiership.

Coleman makes no secret of the fact that it would be one of the low points of his football career.

He admitted: "I would be gutted.

"It would be something that we could never put right afterwards. Once it's done, it's done.

"It's never happened to me before. I've suffered relegation, I've suffered being knocked out of semi-finals - FA Cup and Carling Cup - and it's a killer but that would be the worst for me if we went through the season without winning away from home."

Fulham, with their only other remaining away game at Liverpool, appear to have their best chance of ending their travelling hoodoo with Saturday's visit to Sunderland, who have the even worse agony of not having won at home this campaign.

Coleman has laid down the challenge to his players but he insists he has not put additional pressure on them by opening his heart.

"It's not putting any extra pressure on the players," he said.

"It can't get any greater for them because they know themselves but, for me personally, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth."

A draw would leave both clubs with their unwanted records but he candidly accepted: "I'd rather have that than one-nil against us."

With five games to play, Fulham's young boss believes that his side still need two wins to make mathematically sure of avoiding relegation - and their appalling away record and inconsistency is to blame for them being in that position.

"We can beat Chelsea but we can lose to the teams at the bottom, unfortunately, and that's why we haven't been in the top 10. Forget about injuries or suspensions, we've not been consistent enough," said Coleman who knows that Sunderland will be battling to salvage something of their shattered reputations.

"Sunderland know if they lose and the results elsewhere go against them they are down. They're going to come for us, we know that, because they can't afford to lose."

Coleman counts Sunderland's caretaker manager Kevin Ball among the friends from his playing days.

But he said: "Kevin will be telling that to his players and he will have Sunderland ready for us. He was a player here, a very committed player, a very tough boy.

"He was an excellent captain and he was captain of Sunderland for a long time, somebody I got on very well with and we have maintained our friendship since he left.

"I've got a lot of respect for Kevin but I'm not thinking about Sunderland and relegation, I'm thinking about Fulham and putting our season to bed. It's about us putting in the type of performance we're capable of."

Sunderland caretaker boss Kevin Ball is refusing to allow himself to think of what might have been after seeing his side claim a point at Everton.

The Black Cats go into Saturday's clash with Fulham at the Stadium of Light knowing anything less than victory - something they have not achieved at home in the league all season - will see their Premiership adventure come to an end.

Indeed, even three points will count for nothing if Birmingham win at Wigan.

However, if the worst is to happen, Ball is adamant his side will not go down without a fight, and with last Saturday's 2-2 draw at Everton having ended a run of six successive defeats, he is hoping for more of the same this time around.

It will almost certainly prove to be too little, too late, but the former midfielder is adamant there is no point raking over the past.

"The main thing is taking one game at a time," he said.

"Everton was my fourth game in charge and in the other games before that, there were times when I felt we deserved something out of the game, and we got that on Saturday.

"But 'what ifs?' are what they are - 'what ifs?', and really quite irrelevant.

"Any game between now and the end of the season, we want to win. Coming up to this Saturday, we have been away to Everton, done very well and got a point - and but for the width of a post, could have come away with three.

"But coming up to this game, it will be a difficult game. I've got a lot of admiration for the Fulham team and Chris Coleman as well.

"We know full well it's going to be a very difficult game because there are times when Fulham have shown everybody what a decent team they are.

"But it is up to us to go out and have have a right go and manage to get the right result."

First among the club's aims for what remains of a disastrous season is the quest for a first league win on home turf.

That would go some way towards eating into the eight points they still need to avoid "bettering" their own all-time low of just 19 points in a Premiership season.

"We are aware of things like that, but we will just take one game at a time and try to get the right result and then build towards doing what we want to do," said Ball.

"It's not worth me talking about records. I just like to take things one game at a time.

"I was always like that as a player and I think I'll be the same way as a manager."