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.
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"But the lads showed great desire, determination, togetherness in that second half I think we could quite easily have nicked a point. After such a tough game on Tuesday [a 2-2 draw against Swansea City] it was important for me that we picked a team that could keep us in the game for 60 minutes because I knew the subs would make a huge impact – which they did.
"But unfortunately we gave away two really sloppy goals and it was just a little bit too much to get back."
Eustace had said in the build-up that it was unfair that his side had played in midweek while Sunderland had had no game since last Saturday, and he again made that point. He said: "As I said, Tuesday's game took a lot out of the boys but it was important the subs were going to make a huge impact today – that's why I had lots of energy coming off the bench.
"On another day that last half hour we could maybe have scored a couple of goals. I wasn't planning to be 2-0 down when we made the chances but all credit to the group, they never stopped fighting and playing for one another and that's the culture I want to create at the club."
Sunderland's win moved them on to 27 points after 20 games and lifted them to 12th in the table, one point and two places behind the Blues who have played one additional game, ahead of the remainder of this weekend's Championship programme.
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