TONY Mowbray is desperate for his Sunderland side to keep their Championship season alive for as long as possible.

The 98th minute heartbreak against Hull City on Good Friday left the Black Cats six points adrift of the Championship play-off places with six games to play.

Sunderland's chances of gatecrashing the top six are slim but even if they come up short and don't make the play-offs, Mowbray wants his side to make it "exciting" in the run-in.

Sunderland head Cardiff City today (3pm) on the back of the Bluebirds' impressive Blackpool victory that saw Mick McCarthy lose his job, before successive home games against lowly Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town. Mowbray wants his side to still be in the mix coming out of those games and ahead of the final three fixtures against West Brom, Watford and Preston.

"I feel as if we have some good games to play," said Mowbray.

"Cardiff away now they've won a game, it will take some anxiety off them.

"Birmingham and Huddersfield come pretty quick, both home games. There are potential points for us to grab.

"Let's see if we can take it the last two or three games to make it exciting. I want to make it exciting for the supporters.

"If we lose the next two or three games, the last thee games are really nothing. It would be nice to hang on."

Mowbray's desire to make the run-in exciting is why he was so frustrated to lose two points in the dying seconds against Hull City.

He said: "Win 4-3 everyone's buzzing, going into Cardiff then two home games and you'd be sitting there thinking you know what we might be able to sneak in.

"A 0-0 (against Burnley) and a 4-4, only a point from both, but for this new team, we're doing OK, we just have to keep growing and learning and getting better."

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While still desperate to pick up points, Mowbray will try to strike a balance with his squad in the remaining games - with Isaac Lihaji and Abdoullah Ba two players he wants to give match minutes.

That's difficult when forward players like Amad Diallo and Jack Clarke put in brilliant displays as they did against Hull City.

Mowbray said: "Isaac needs to play some minutes, Abdoullah needs to play some minutes.

"We will make some changes when we feel it's right.

"Amad is a wonderful talent, we know that it took him a week or so after the international break to get back upto speed.

"He's just a good footballer who picks the right pass, who makes the right decisions, who gets the weight of the ball right,

"For this club and this team we have to give experience to some young footballers to get them used to playing in the Championship."