It has reached the point of no return for Swansea City, but manager Carlos Carvalhal insists his players will keep control of their Premier League destiny on Tuesday night.
A defeat or draw at home to fellow plug-hole balancers Southampton will suddenly remove any ability for the Swans to stop themselves being washed away down the Premier League waste pipe.
Should the worst happen and Carvalhal’s team lose then they will be relying on Huddersfield to lose against both Chelsea and Arsenal, in order to survive on goal difference if the Swans can beat Stoke in their final game.
A draw would widen the options, but still mean Manchester City would have to do them a favour by beating or drawing with the Saints on Sunday.
Only a victory – something they have not managed for seven games – will keep the Swans in charge of their own fate going into the final day.
But Carvalhal, who was drafted in to replace Paul Clement in December to deliver survival, is confident his men can achieve the task in hand.
“I believe in myself. I believe in my players,” he said. “My target is try to get them to believe in themselves and believe in their colleagues.
“This is my target. These are the things that we must do.
“Again, I would be talking in a completely different way if, for example, we had to win on Tuesday and had to wait for two or three results.
“This is something really bad. When it is in your hands to do it, let’s do it. This is the way. And I believe we can do it.”
When Swansea last won – a 4-1 hammering of West Ham in early March – they were 13th and looking for a top-half finish.
But a poor run of form, which has featured defeats to Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, has seen a turn in fortunes for the Swans.
“What changed? Changed that we play Manchester United. Manchester City. We played Chelsea at home,” the Portuguese added.
“We played very well against Chelsea, very well against Everton, we draw. We drew with West Brom.
“As you know, they changed the manager so it is not so bad because they won all the games after this. We draw.
“Nothing changed. The calendar was harder for us.
“The calendar also says that we have two home games against teams that are fighting with us.
“So I don’t look at things in a negative way. I just look at things in a positive way.”
Swansea are level on points with the Saints, but below them on goal difference and the game on Tuesday has the air of a relegation play-off.
It is likely to be the most anxious, most edgy, nervous atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium since, well . . . last season when they were similarly threatened in their final fixtures
Carvalhal has managed in some big games in his career – the Championship play-off final with Sheffield Wednesday and cup finals in Portugal among them – though he would not be drawn on whether this was the biggest.
“This is an important game,” he conceded. “We must have emotional control and we must act and do the proper things. Not to make mistakes. This is the way.
“If you are asking if it is the most important game of my career, it is an important game.
“I can’t say it is more important because when you play finals, finals are finals. It is important of course.”
Swansea can take solace from their impressive home form where they have only been beaten by Tottenham and Chelsea in the League since Carvalhal came in at the end of 2017, with Spurs also winning in the FA Cup.
“Since we arrive, all the games we play at home, we perform really well,” he added.
“I don’t have any reason to doubt we can do it on Tuesday.
“My players will give the maximum, the fans will give the maximum, and when we play in Liberty, usually, we are a strong team, and it is our (plan) to be a strong team on Tuesday.”
Kyle Naughton could return to the squad after a stomach bug kept him out of the Bournemouth game, while Sam Clucas is in contention for a starting place after nursing a knock.
