LIKE Alan Hansen, Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy subscribes to the theory that you cannot win anything with kids.

So while McCarthy has taken great heart from how his young tyros have adapted to life as Premiership players, he is refusing to pin his promotion hopes on them.

Chris Black was the latest member of Sunderland's successful reserve side to be thrust into first-team duty on Saturday.

The 20-year-old from Ashington certainly did not look out of place at Villa Park as Sunderland again contrived to lose a game that was there for the taking against poor opponents.

Kevin Kyle and Sean Thornton have been regulars in recent weeks as the Premiership life has slowly been squeezed out of Sunderland.

McCarthy has also granted senior debuts to Jonjo Dickman and Richie Ryan since the club's fate was sealed and he stepped up his plans for next season.

The Stadium of Light boss is shrewd enough to know he will need old heads as well as young legs to succeed in an arduous First Division campaign.

How he wishes he could call on Kevin Phillips, Gavin McCann and a handful of other senior professionals who are almost certain to leave Sunderland shortly.

But McCarthy is reconciled to their likely departures, and he wants to replace them with experience; his youngsters will need all the help they can get.

McCarthy said: "The young lads probably aren't all ready for a hard season with 46 games.

"That will be extremely difficult for some of them but I'll have to do some wheeling and dealing, and get some experienced players in.

"There's going to be a lot of players available, make no mistake, and I want to sign some experience to help our bright young players.

"We've got some talented lads - Chris Black, Sean Thornton, Kevin Kyle and Richie Ryan have all done well for us. But they alone won't get us promoted.

"We'll have to look at getting loans in and people at clubs with squads that are too big.

"We don't know what's going to happen between now and when we come back. Who's to say who will leave, but Kevin Phillips, Gavin McCann and Thomas Sorensen are good players.

"I definitely expect my best players to go. If that happens, I'll make sure I've got replacements who can do a job in the First Division."

After so many gutless displays this season, Sunderland are suddenly showing they have the stomach for a battle.

It is too little too late, of course, and good teams do occasionally get goals as well as create chances. (Sunderland need to put seven past Arsenal on Sunday to avoid becoming the lowest scorers in Premier League history.)

But McCann was close to his bullocking best on Saturday, giving the visitors control of the midfield and a springboard to win the game.

Kyle, too, was a constant menace - though it remains a mystery how he fired wide from 14 yards when Villa's defence had gone AWOL and with goalkeeper Peter Enckelman out of position.

Five minutes after Kyle missed when it seemed easier to score, Marcus Allback raced through and drilled a shot through Mart Poom's hands.

McCarthy admitted his striker's shocker was the turning point. Had he converted his chance, Sunderland would almost certainly have won; instead, they succumbed to their 14th successive defeat.

McCarthy refused to condemn Kyle, however, preferring instead to dwell on the 21-year-old's all-round contribution.

He said: "There's no point berating Kevin Kyle. He didn't mean to miss it, and there's nobody who would have rather scored than him.

"He would have liked his first Premiership goal; he would have liked to have won us the game; he would have liked to get the fans on his side.

"He's played well; he just needs a goal. When I put my arm round him, I might clip him round the ear as well!

"Unfortunately, it will be his miss and not his performance that people will remember. But he's got a manager who will remember his performance."

Sunderland and Villa passed up a welter of chances before Allback scored the goal that secured his team's Premiership status for next season.

Allback had earlier missed a similar chance to the one he converted, while Ronny Johnsen somehow hit the bar from just six yards.

Sunderland ought to have capitalised on that profligacy, but Phillips was denied by a fine save from Enckelman and Kyle saw a first-time volley clip the crossbar.

It was the Black Cats who eventually paid for their slipshod finishing, and they never looked like equalising once they had fallen behind.