Gabriel Tamas looks for 'Bravehearts'

Film buff Gabriel Tamas is demanding 'Braveheart Baggies' at the Hawthorns as they look to battle back from their Chelsea nightmare.

The defender, who is a huge fan of big-screen epics, has spent this week licking the wounds from the heaviest defeat of his career.

But the Romania international is calling for Hawthorns heroes to step up against the Black Cats tomorrow, as Albion look to slay the demons of their opening-day 6-0 hammering at Stamford Bridge.

And Tamas is relishing the challenging of defying the critics who are writing off the club's survival chances.

He said: "I like movies like Braveheart, The Patriot and Gladiator. The idea of battling against the odds and overcoming them appeals to me.

"I like all films. But my favourite is The Count of Monte Cristo.

"I love Braveheart, the Patriot, Gladiator, anything like that and on the pitch it is like a battlefield. That is why we run, we fight, we help our team-mates, we make tackles. It is like our battlefield.

"Let's hope we win our battle with Sunderland and we are smiling after the battle."

When it came to regrouping after an Albion setback this week, Tamas was an old hand.

The defender from Brasov was brassed off six days ago, when his Premier League debut ended in a chastening 6-0 defeat to the defending champions.

But the challenge of fighting back was nothing new to the 26-year-old, who suffered a personal nightmare on his Baggies debut against Nottingham Forest in the Championship in January.

That match ended in a 3-1 defeat and the lowest point of a successful season.

Yet Tamas, who had moved to the Hawthorns on loan from Auxerre, recovered and his performances from the remainder of the season earned him a £500,000 permanent move this summer.

Now the ex-Celta Vigo man is plotting a similar reaction to last weekend's hammering in London.

He said: "As a first game in the Premier League it was like my first game in the Championship.

"We lost against Nottingham Forest and it was the first game for me, and now in my first Premier League game we lost to Chelsea. That is football and we need to move on. We need to go forward.

"We need to concentrate more for the next game, like we did after Nottingham Forest. Now, after Chelsea, it will be a difficult match against Sunderland so we need to prepare 100 per cent for all eventualities.

"As a defender you are upset that you concede six goals, it doesn't matter how they happen. When we lost against Nottingham Forest it was three goals and as a defender it is your fault.

"It doesn't matter whether they score from 40, 50 or 60 yards. They scored too many goals so it's my fault and our fault as defenders. We didn't defend properly and that is reality.

"People saw that and let's hope we don't do the same in the next game."

The Romanian international was in the thick of the defensive chaos that brought about the Chelsea debacle as he and Chris Brunt left a gap in the defensive wall, allowing Didier Drogba to strike the Blues' crucial second goal in first-half stoppage time.

Tamas, who was given the nod to start at Stamford Bridge ahead of vice-captain Jonas Olsson, has held his hands up for his role in the Drogba free-kick as well as the other Chelsea strikes.

But he is adamant the Baggies cannot afford to dwell for too long on events of the opening day.

He said: "The wall moved. I moved to the left side so it's partly my fault, but we cannot be perfect.

"If we didn't concede that goal maybe the score would have been different, but we don't know. That is football. You win and you lose, but you must move on from both.

"We have an opportunity one week later to change the spirit and make people happy. I don't know if you can forget a defeat like that easily, but we must try to move on and try to forget it as soon as possible.

"For me it was the biggest defeat ever. I have never lost 6-0 before. But all the players feel the same. We were very upset but we must move on."

Tamas and fellow centre-back Pablo Ibanez are facing a challenge from Olsson for their places in tomorrow's team, although Di Matteo is unlikely to react to last week's defeat with wholesale changes.

All 11 starters from last week are available again with Ishmael Miller (thigh) the only member of the matchday 18 missing through injury.

Sunderland are without the suspended Lee Cattermole and the injured John Mensah so Cristian Riveros and Paulo Da Silva are standing by to step in.

By Steve Madeley