Birmingham City boss John Eustace says his side conceded two 'really sloppy' goals against Sunderland but felt his side could have 'quite easily nicked a point', as the Black Cats ended the Blues' four-game unbeaten run. Injury-hit Sunderland won 2-1 at St Andrew's thanks to goals either side of half-time from Ellis Simms and Amad to head into the World Cup break on a high.
But Birmingham came close to forcing a draw late on after Lukas Jutkiewicz pulled a goal back with a little over ten minutes to play, and that sparked a sustained spell of pressure from the Midlanders. Eustace was disappointed with his side's first half display but praised them for the way they set about their task in the second period.
"We had two good chances in the first half, Troy [Deeney] hitting the bar, Scotty Hogan with a one-on-one chance," said Eustace. "I think first half we weren't quite at the races, we lost too many duels in midfield especially and I was really disappointed in the manner we conceded the first goal.
