MICK McCARTHY yesterday admitted a communication breakdown between his goalkeeper and back four denied Sunderland their first all-important Premier League victory on Saturday.

The Black Cats were only seconds away from registering their first three Premiership points when an unmarked Zoltan Gera ghosted into the box and headed an injury time equaliser for West Brom at the Stadium of Light.

The Sunderland boss was clearly annoyed at the lackadaisical defending and initially felt his side threw it away because of last-minute nerves.

But when McCarthy returned to a distraught home dressing room after the game he was told goalkeeper Kelvin Davis had lost his voice and could not communicate with his defence for the last 20 minutes of the match.

Davis and skipper Gary Breen collided while going for the same ball in the build-up to West Brom's late strike.

The Wearsiders felt they had averted the danger when the back-tracking Justin Hoyte managed to clear the resulting goal-bound effort over the bar. But West Brom scored from the corner.

"I'd heard he'd lost his voice and he couldn't call for the ball, and when it was mentioned to me I kind of dismissed it," said McCarthy prior to Sunderland's Carling Cup second round game with League Two side Cheltenham tonight.

"You think these things are conspiring against you but he couldn't shout for it.

"It's not a viral thing, it's peculiar to him. It's a stonewall genuine problem. He couldn't call for the ball."

As a precaution Davis has been pulled out of the Sunderland squad for Cheltenham's visit in favour of youngster Ben Alnwick.

But McCarthy backed his £1.25m summer signing from Ipswich to bounce back from his recent indifferent displays and is hopeful he will recover in time for this weekend's derby at Middlesbrough.

The Sunderland boss admitted the closest he ever came to a communication breakdown with a goalkeeper was when he plied his trade in Le Championnat for Lyon 16 years ago.

"I have only ever come across a problem like this before in France when my goalkeeper used to shout at me in French, and it didn't make a blind bit of sense to me," he said.

"I think it was 'dgagez le vous', which means 'clear it'. I told him if he had shouted 'clear it' I would have done, but it ended up in the net."

Preparing for the visit of John Ward's Cheltenham, McCarthy insisted he is not taking the League Two outfit lightly, despite a mid-table position and a run of form which has seen the Robins win only one game in five.

"It's a hugely important game because we want to get a victory," said a bullish McCarthy.

"Playing well and winning will help us towards staying in the Premiership. A victory of any sort is nice, but they won't be coming up here just to help us get back to winning ways.

"John's team will come up here and want to cause an upset but we're fully expected to win and we should be able to beat them."

McCarthy intends to field a strong XI but admitted some of his fringe players may get an opportunity to show their worth.

He said: "The ones who've had their noses out of joint, because they're not playing, have an opportunity to come back in and make the most of it.

"Matt Piper's ready to play and Steve Caldwell, Carl Robinson and Liam Lawrence, permanent fixtures last season, also want a game."

Andy Welsh is another player looking to redeem himself after an below-par performance against Chelsea meant he was left out for the West Brom game.

"I don't know what the gaffer's thinking in regards to the team but people have the chance to impress," said the 21-year-old winger.

"I'd love to be involved in every game, but it is a squad game now so you have to bide your time and wait for your chance. I'm sure when it comes around I'll take it."

Tommy Miller, Julio Arca, Alan Stubbs, and Christian Bassila all have slight knocks.

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