There is an argument for saying that West Bromwich Albion are under less pressure this Sunday than their relegation.
It is based on the theory that, as the Premiership's backmarkers, they are the ones coming from behind and therefore the only occupants of the bottom four who know that winning may not be enough.
Whatever Bryan Robson's side do this weekend may in the end prove immaterial but it also loads the pressure onto the three other clubs bidding to escape the trapdoor to the Championship.
On that basis, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Norwich City, the side just outside the bottom four, should be feeling the strain on an upwardly escalating scale.
The one sure thing about events this Sunday, though, is that if Albion do not win, they are down and that is pressure enough.
While many of Robson's squad have been in pressurised footballing situations, one player who seems better equipped with the stresses and strains than most is top scorer Rob Earnshaw.
He has hit back at the critics who said he wouldn't make an impact in the Premiership this season by scoring 11 times - a tally bettered by only a handful of other top flight marskmen, all of whom have had more games than the under-used Welshman.
And when the pressure was most on him when he was put 'on the spot' against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, Earnshaw came through with flying colours.
The memory of the penalty he missed in similarly stressful circumstances, ballooned embarrassingly over the bar on his debut against Fulham last September, might have haunted men of lesser character. But what 'Earnie' lacks in stature he makes up for in heart. And he made it quite clear that he was the only man in the Albion team to take that penalty.
"A couple of boys would have wanted it," said Earnshaw. "I think Zoltan Gera was next in line, but I took the last one so there was no chance anyone was going to get the ball off me.
"If I'm on the pitch, I'll be taking it. There were 67,000 whistling at me to miss it and all I was thinking was 'I wish the ref would let me hurry up and take it'. But I saw the keeper go down early and I knew it was in.
"That was a nice feeling and I was away. And if there's a chance to score next week too, I'll be the first one to step up."
Wales international Earnshaw likens Sunday's final day showdown to his country's two-leg Euro 2004 playoff qualifiers against Russia last season, although he will be hoping for a happier outcome this time.
"Those games with Russia were the biggest pressure I've ever been under," he said. "But that's what football's all about. You've just got to enjoy every moment and take the memories with you.
"We've just to go out and win. We knew we needed a massive result against United. And, if you go and get something against some of the best players in the world, in the position we're in, you know you've done ever so well.
"Now I just have to hope I've done enough to keep my place. I've only played two games in the last couple of months but I've not let my head go down.
"I've just tried to show what I can do and now I've again showed what I can do by scoring goals, it's down to the manager."
