Alex Pritchard insists he is happy to step up and take on a different role as Sunderland cope with 'the hand they have been dealt' due to injuries. The attacking midfielder has been utilised as a false nine in the last two games against Cardiff City and Birmingham City as Tony Mowbray looks for a solution after Ross Stewart's season-ending injury and Ellis Simms' recall from his loan spell by parent club Everton in January left the Black Cats with no centre-forward.
And the strategy appears to be working, with Sunderland winning 1-0 at relegation candidates Cardiff on Easter Monday and then coming from behind to beat Birmingham at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
"I think everyone knows our situation with certain things that have happened with injuries and stuff," said Pritchard.
"We haven't had it [a centre-forward] for most of the season and we're still doing what we're doing. I think the hand we get dealt, we just have to deal with it and we've got to step up as a team and as individuals.
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"It's something I've obviously done in the past, I've done it in previous games here so it's not new."
Sunderland are now ninth in the table and just two points outside the Championship play-off places with four games remaining. And when they take on one of Pritchard's former clubs Huddersfield Town on Wearside tomorrow, they will be looking to complete a hat-trick of league wins for the first time this season, and back-to-back home wins for only the second time in the current campaign.
Indeed, Sunderland's win against Birmingham was their first on home soil since mid-February and they have won just seven of their 21 league games at the Stadium of Light this term.
Pritchard said: "Football is a funny old game. We've had results at our home stadium that have not been good enough, we know that. We've played really well in spells and come away with nothing.
"[Against Birmingham] we were probably a bit more solid. Look, we've conceded a goal, I lost the ball in the middle of the park and they've scored but you can't just put your head down.
"You just have to keep going and get back in the game and we did that, came out second half and I thought we fully deserved the win."
Sunderland had suffered the heartbreak of an injury-time equaliser from the penalty spot in their previous home game against Hull City, which ended 4-4. But the Birmingham win has got them back on track at home, and now they can take another step towards the play-offs if they beat relegation strugglers Huddersfield.
Pritchard said: "I think coming off the back of a disappointing, probably, 4-4 at home to Hull, scoring four goals and conceding four goals is obviously not good enough is it. Then we go to Cardiff, keep a clean sheet, and then get another win [against Birmingham] so it's two wins on the bounce now.
"We're obviously still playing for something against Huddersfield. It's going to be a really tough game, they are going to make it hard but we have to come out, play our football and hopefully get another result."
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