Sunderland will be aiming to keep their faint playoff hopes alive when they welcome Birmingham City to the Stadium of Light in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Cats earned their first win in five on Easter Monday at Cardiff City, while Birmingham hit an important milestone in the season with a point against Stoke City.

Match preview

Sunderland put an end to a four-match winless run on Monday afternoon with a narrow 1-0 success at struggling Cardiff, with a second-half Dennis Cirkin goal securing a valuable three points for the visitors.

All three of the Black Cats' most-recent victories have been away from the Stadium of Light - the last time their home supporters witnessed a maximum was in the middle of February against Reading.

Three points in South Wales lifted Sunderland up to 10th in the Championship standings, now four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers - although the Lancashire club have played a game fewer.

The return of Amad Diallo from injury looks set to give Tony Mowbray's side even more attacking quality for the closing stages of the season, with the Manchester United loanee scoring a brace during his last appearance at the Stadium of Light on Good Friday.

Back-to-back promotions always seemed to be a lofty assignment for Sunderland, and even if they remain in the second tier next term you feel that this season will be remembered fondly by supporters.

Birmingham extended their unbeaten run to four matches with a goalless draw against Stoke at St Andrew's on Monday - a result which took Blues onto 50 points in the Championship with five matches left to go.

Despite the unattractive nature of the match he had just witnessed, John Eustace cut a happy figure in his post-match press conference, perhaps proud of the points tally he has achieved with a side predicted to be facing relegation in the summer.

The Second City club are 17th in the Championship standings, nine points better off than 22nd-placed Reading - it would now take an extraordinary set of circumstances to see the 2011 League Cup winners playing League One football next season.

Blues have shared the spoils on their last two visits to the Stadium of Light, with goals from Scott Dann and Liam Ridgewell completing a comeback in the North East following an infamous Lee Cattermole red card in August 2010.

With the football staff looking set to complete their mission of keeping Birmingham in the Championship, focus will turn to matters off the pitch, where a staged takeover of the club appears to be taking a promising shape.

Team News

Sunderland have a pair of key men sidelined for the remainder of the season, with Aji Alese and Ross Stewart not expected to play again this campaign.

The Black Cats have missed the presence of central defender Daniel Ballard in recent matches - it is set to be a partnership of Danny Batth and Trai Hume at the back for the hosts on Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham have welcomed Dion Sanderson and Troy Deeney back to first-team training following their back and hamstring injuries respectively - it remains to be seen whether either will play a part in the North East.

Blues leading scorer Scott Hogan has not started a match in over a month due to the resurgence of Lukas Jutkiewicz, and the Irishman could have to settle for a place on the bench once again in this one.

Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Gooch, Hume, Batth, Cirkin; Ba, Ekwah, Neil; Amad, Pritchard, Clarke

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Colin, Long, Roberts, Trusty; Bielik, Hannibal, Hall, Chong, Khadra; Jutkiewicz

We say: Sunderland 2-1 Birmingham City

Sunderland will be buoyed by their much-needed win at Cardiff on Monday and should be confident of beating a Birmingham side who arguably have nothing to play for in the remaining five matches.

Blues have been good defensively in recent matches, but we see a slip in concentration at the Stadium of Light for the visitors in this one, ultimately leading to defeat.


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