Claus Lundekvam has admitted he may not win the aerial battle against Niall Quinn today - but he's sure he can win the war.

The big Norwegian defender goes into one of the most physically demanding games of the season against Sunderland knowing that he and his Saints side will need to be strong and quick to outsmart the Black Cats.

Lundekvam will be responsible for trying to shut out one of the deadliest partnerships in the Premiership with Quinn and strike-partner Kevin Phillips starting to recapture some of the form that has fired Sunderland up the table for the last two seasons.

"I am looking forward to the game very much," said Lundekvam. "After last week we have got a lot of confidence going into this game.

"Sunderland are a very physical team and very strong and are a good side and I think their two front players are their best players, Quinn and Phillips, so if we can stop those two we might be in for a good day.

"Quinny is very, very good in the air and Phillips is always working around him so we have got to stop that.

"We are obviously not going to win all the headers against them so we will have to make sure we are always first to pick up the second ball."

Phillips, a former Southampton trainee who was released because he was not a good enough right-back, has scored three times in the sides' last four meetings while Quinn has hit the back of net twice.

Lundekvam says that facing the pair is one of the toughest challenges for him and rates Phillips, who needs goals to press his claim for a place in Sven Goran Eriksson's England squad for next summer's World Cup, as one of the best around.

"I rate Kevin Phillips very highly as a striker," he said. "He's very quick, very sharp and a very good finisher and a good all-round player.

"But we have been playing pretty well lately. We haven't scored goals but everything came right last week so hopefully we can keep that going."