Instant analysis from Sunderland's defeat to Birmingham City

Jack Clarke gave Michael Beale’s side early hope on the road, with his 15th goal of the season, before Jordan James’ strike restored parity midway through the second half and Koji Miyoshi added another with ten minutes of the game remaining.

Here are the key talking points from today’s game…

Romaine Mundle’s bright first impression

There was fireworks before the game, and the first half certainly lived up to that billing.

The hosts, cheered on by a sold-out St. Andrew’s, pressed Sunderland high inside the opening stages of the game, forcing the Black Cats into one or two sloppy errors. Nonetheless, the visitors settled the early raucous atmosphere and were the better side in the first half.

Beale's side lining up in a 4-3-3, it was they who looked the most threating, helped by Romaine Mundle’s inclusion down that right-hand side. He may not have played much senior football, but the former Spurs trainee looked to have the beating of Blues’ full-back Ethan Laird in every duel.

The first warning sign from Mundle coming in the 14th minute, his cross found Mason Burstow on the edge of the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy. The Chelsea loanee just got the timing of his run wrong, the ball behind him and his effort going high and wide of the mark.

Less than a minute later, Mundle drifted in from the right-hand side of the pitch, with Sunderland in possession on the left flank. The Black Cats worked it in field to the 20-year-old in a central position, with time to turn, he stung the palms of John Ruddy from 25-yards out. Direct and not afraid to shoot – something Sunderland have missed on occasion this season.

His pace was a real outlet down that right-hand side of the pitch and it gave Laird plenty to think about both running in behind and carrying the ball at his feet.

Despite his size, he showed great upper body strength to hold off Marc Roberts just before the half-time interval, unlucky not to add a second as he tried to pick out the far corner of Ruddy’s net, the Blues shot stopper tipping it round the post, before a quieter second half for the January signing saw him replaced by Abdoullah Ba.

Jack Clarke produces again

If Sunderland are to get in the play-offs, Clarke will be the reason why.

That isn’t copy and pasted from last weekend’s game against Plymouth Argyle, or Stoke City or Hull City for that matter, but it’s been the story of Sunderland’s season and he’s shown no sign of letting up.

Despite the ‘background noise’ coming from his agent this week, claiming he’s hoping for a move away from the club in the summer, Clarke stepped up to the plate again.

Look, it’ll be no surprise if the talismanic winger does leaves the Stadium of Light this summer, after all he’s been one of the best players in the Championship this season. His 15th goal of the campaign came here at St. Andrew’s - an opportunity to showcase the other side of his game.

Beale has praised his defensive work since he came through the door, and he got his reward for perfectly timing a press and capitalising on a loose ball in midfield.

Birmingham midfielder Seung-Ho Paik got the weight of his pass to Marc Roberts awfully wrong, midway inside his own half. Clarke raced onto the loose ball, beating the Blues centre-half to the punch, driving into the area and calmly picking out the bottom right-hand corner, leaving Ruddy with no chance.

A gift, but a calm finish from the wide man.

Michael Beale’s midfield rotations

It was a poor performance on the road at Huddersfield Town, make no mistake. The first half here, by and large, was a decent performance, the second 45, equally as poor.

Sunderland went toe-to-toe with Birmingham as Mowbray’s side looked to play that attractive front foot football those on Wearside were well accustomed to.

However, the tweaks Beale has made defensively meant the visitors limited the Blues to very little inside the first half - Jay Stansfield’s volley from the edge of the area, which was tipped over the bar by Anthony Patterson, the best chance for the hosts in the opening 45 minutes.

It took the Black Cats ten minutes or so to become accustomed to Birmingham’s press, but the width of Pierre Ekwah and Jobe Bellingham gave them an outlet to break that press.

Leo Hjelde and Trai Hume weren’t afraid to move centrally to pick up the ball when one of those midfielders drifted out wide, offering Sunderland some fluidity playing through the phases.

In possession, there were times Sunderland change to a back-three, pushing Hume up high and wide, with Dan Neil dropping in to get the ball. Birmingham were unable to get to grips with that off the ball movement in the first half.

Second half collapse

We’ve been here before, haven’t we? A bright, promising first half performance undone by a poor second half display.

It was the Blues who started the second half the stronger of the two sides. Sunderland ended up dropping deeper and allowed the hosts twenty-yards higher up the pitch, allowing them a foothold in the game.

Jobe was unable to clear the ball on the edge of the 18-yard-box, the loose ball popped up to Tyler Roberts, who forced Patterson into a save from just inside the area.

There’ll be questions over whether the Sunderland goalkeeper could have diverted the ball into a better area, palming it to Miyoshi on the edge of the area. His effort beat Patterson but was cleared off the line by Hume, only as far as James who was left with the goal at his mercy at the far post.

With the game evenly poised, Sunderland had a golden opportunity to restore their lead. Jobe advancing towards the edge of the Blues’ 18-yard-box, with Clarke free to his left and a clear shot on goal, the former Birmingham midfielder chose to cut back onto his right but was smothered by defenders who cleared their lines.

That decision proved costly with the Blues almost immediately making Sunderland pay.

Mowbray’s side played a quick free-kick down the left, with Stansfield running in behind. His shot was blocked, but bobbled in between Sunderland’s back line and Patterson. Neither party took charge of the situation on the edge of the six-yard box, allowing Miyoshi to poke the ball under the Black Cats goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Points tally needed for play-offs

Sunderland squeezed into the play-offs on the final day of last season with 69 points - they are currently 22 points adrift of that tally, and four off the top-six.

Beale believes that his Black Cats’ side will need to surpass that tally if they’re to finish inside the top-six, with 39 points up for grabs.

“This year in the Championship, the points tally that we're going to need is going to be greater than last year I believe,” he said leading up to the game.

“If you look, it's a stronger league this year for sure. You look at the top three and where they're taking it, or the top four, there's only a few play-off places available.

“There's six or seven teams in that fight and we're one of them. This isn't a time for doubt.”

On that basis, it’s fair to say 70 points plus will be the target for the Black Cats. Seven wins from their remaining 13 games would land them 21 points – ending the campaign on 71 points. That may not be enough to see them finish in the top-six, but it’s also not an impossible task.