Goals:

0-1: Gomez (77, received the ball from Johnson on the left and drilled angled drive into the bottom right-hand corner)

0-2: Johnson (87, guided home a first-time finish after Doyle made a good save to deny Altidore)

0-3: Wickham (88, drilled into the corner from an acute angle after Giaccherini released him down the left)

Bookings: Thomas (53, foul)

Referee: Darren Bond (Burscough) – Infuriated the home side by failing to spot that the ball had gone out of play at the start of the move that led to Sunderland’s goal 4

Attendance: 11,245

Entertainment: **

Birmingham (4-4-2): Doyle 6; Eardley 6 (Spector 33, 5), Edgar 6, Hall 5, Robinson 5; DUFFY 6 (Novak 61, 5), Gleeson 5, Caddis 5, Cotterill 6; Donaldson 6, Thomas 5.

Subs (not used): Randolph (gk), Grounds, Johnstone, Davis, Gray.

Sunderland (4-1-4-1):

Pantilimon: Didn’t have a lot to do, but made a couple of decent second-half saves as Birmingham threatened to go ahead 6

Vergini: Produced a solid display on the right of defence but doesn’t look particularly comfortable going forward 6

Brown: Held things together reasonably well, but was occasionally troubled by Donaldson’s change of pace 6

O’Shea: The dominant defensive figure all night as he calmly mopped up at the heart of Sunderland’s back four 7

Jones: Normally appears on the right-hand side and never looked particularly comfortable out of position on the left 5

Bridcutt Often took the easy option with his passing, but was a calming influence at the base of midfield 6

Johnson: Took a long time to get going, but finished strongly and converted his goal with impressive poise 6

Larsson: Didn’t really figure for long periods of the game, and rarely ventured into the Birmingham box 5

Gomez: Capped a solid first start with a magnificent driven finish that resulted in his first Sunderland goal 6

WICKHAM: Was the game’s liveliest attacking threat all night and rounded things off with a fierce angled drive 7

Altidore: Continues to toil with shots going awry and too many moments of poor control gifting the ball to the opposition 5

Subs: Giaccherini (for Larsson, 81)

(not used): Mannone (gk), van Aanholt, Cattermole, Rodwell, Buckley, Fletcher.

Man Of The Match: CONNOR WICKHAM – Gus Poyet continues to play the striker wide on the left, but he continues to respond with energetic displays full of effort and attacking threat.