HOWARD WILKINSON has urged his Sunderland players to hit a ruthless streak to help the club climb away from the relegation zone.

Saturday's defeat to Birmingham City left Sunderland just a point and a place ahead of the bottom three. And Wilkinson is demanding that his players now shoot on sight, as he steps up his bid to get his squad on the goalscoring trail after firing blanks in the last two games.

"It's simple, if you don't shoot you don't score," said Wilkinson.

"But it's a lot easier if you play for 90 minutes and not for 45 minutes like we did against Birmingham.

"I have to say that in the first half on Saturday, even though some things were wrong, they still showed a lot of courage and determination because there were occasions when Birmingham could have taken a grip of things.

"I thought a clean sheet at half-time was a bonus.

"The biggest thing we have to get out of our systems is the fear. In the first half we were afraid of that. We have to be prepared to take more risks and more responsibility."

The defeat was only the second under Wilkinson's guidance and he insists the result could be the reality-check his side needed.

After earning a good point at Liverpool and a victory over Tottenham, many were expecting another three points at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

But Birmingham had other ideas and Wilkinson is convinced his squad will learn from their mistakes. "I would have thought, for the players, it was very frustrating," he said.

"But the most important thing about today is that we shouldn't - and didn't - allow ourselves to be over-ambitious or over-estimate our progress so far. We can't allow this to wash all the positives that we've accumulated so far down the pan."

Meanwhile, Birmingham boss Steve Bruce and midfielder Robbie Savage have kissed and made up after the Welshman reacted angrily to being substituted against Sunderland.

Savage, who had been struggling with a groin injury, was taken off after an hour following his yellow card for a foul on Gavin McCann.

But he leapt on Bruce's back in celebration as Morrison's 89th-minute strike clinched three points for the Blues.

And Bruce joked: "He behaved like my 15-year-old daughter.

"Maybe I'll give him a hundred lines and tell him not to do that again."

l Sunderland's Ben Clark has been called up for the England Under 20s squad for this Wednesday's clash with Italy at the Stadium of Light.

* Kevin Kyle has thanked Scotland boss Berti Vogts for calling him up despite previous bad behaviour. The Sunderland forward found himself out in the cold under Craig Brown after an incident in a Poland hotel while he was with the under-21 squad.

But Kyle said: "When you are young you do things you regret and these can be held against you.

"But if Ronaldo had done something bad in his under-21s squad do you think Brazil wouldn't have picked him? Berti had to have a look at everyone available so when he saw my name in past teams he invited me along."

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