SUNDERLAND skipper Gary Breen was in a straight-talking mood when he urged the majority of his team-mates to own up to their part in the club's Premiership shortcomings this season.

The Black Cats' centre-back is more than willing to accept he has been one of those to have struggled on his return to the Premiership, naming Justin Hoyte and Nyron Nosworthy as the only players who have done themselves justice.

Birmingham arrive at the Stadium of Light this afternoon and if Sunderland lose to their relegation rivals they know they might as well start planning for life in the Championship next season.

Manager Mick McCarthy's squad set a new unwanted record last weekend when they failed to win for the 17th successive time on home soil in the top-flight, beating a record set by Arsenal, known as Woolwich then, 92 years ago. And Breen insists if Sunderland are going to pull off the seemingly impossible mission and avoid suffering relegation for the eighth time since being founded, admissions from under-performing players have to be made.

"I'd be worried if anyone thought they had been doing okay," said Breen, who himself has made the occasional error in Sunderland's depressing first few months of the campaign.

"I would say there are only two people who have shown any kind of consistency this season, and they are Nyron and Justin. Nobody else can make that claim and that's a worrying aspect of everything that's happened. You certainly need more than two people in your squad to be playing consistently well.

"Honesty is always the best policy - it's certainly better than kidding yourself on and saying 'Well I'm doing okay'. That's no good to anybody, because I don't think anyone's played anywhere near their ability really."

As captain, Breen has been at the forefront of trying to rectify mistakes and lifting spirits within the camp in team meetings.

But, as one of the elder men in a relatively young squad, the Republic of Ireland international claims age should not come into the equation when they are professionals.

"You'll have to ask the manager what he thinks my part is," said Breen. "I think it's important everyone knows it's just not been good enough.

"You can't think 'We're not as experienced as these squads so, if we lose 2-1, let's say well done and pat ourselves on the back'. It doesn't work like that and it's just not good enough."

If there is a team Sunderland can beat in current form then it is Birmingham.

Sitting just a place and a point above them in the table, the Blues have also won only a single league match this season and have scored fewer than Sunderland.

Birmingham's total of seven goals in 12 matches is as many as Sunderland have recorded on Wearside alone, while Breen's defence has conceded 27, some ten more than Steve Bruce's men.

Breen said: "I'm looking forward to the game in terms of getting some points on the board. After losing to Villa, I would have loved to have been able to play the next day, rather than stewing for the rest of the week.

"It'll be a tough game. Despite Birmingham's lowly position, they've got a lot of experience and a lot of quality.

It's an expensively-assembled squad.

"They pay a lot of money for their players and I'm sure they'll make it tough for us."