New signing Rade Prica got his name on the scoresheet with a strong substitute's performance, as we sailed past Birmingham City on Tuesday night.

Prica started the game on the subs bench in a Sunderland side that featured just one change, with Phil Bardsley making his debut at right back, in place of Paul McShane who was on the bench. Sunderland went into the game knowing that a win would lift us up to 14th position, at least for a day, and the game got off to a fairly even start.

Birmingham just about edged the first few exchanges, after Kenwyne Jones had fired wide in the first minutes, before Nyron Nosworthy and Bardsley took turns in clearing away Birmingham crosses. As the game started to degenerate into a scrap, Sunderland took the lead, thanks to Phil Bardsley's set piece. The free kick was nodded down by Jones, and eventually found its way through the Blues defence, where Daryl Murphy was waiting to tuck home his second goal in as many home games.

The Blues tried to get back into it, only for Oliver Kapo's shot to be blocked, as Alex McLeish saw his side lose control of the game. Kenwyne Jones raced onto a long ball, and after keeping it in almost teed up Dean Whitehead in the box on 23 minutes, as Bardsley made a series of ball-winning challenges to deny the visitors at the other end.

Sunderland did enter half time with some concerns though, as Craig Gordon denied Cameron Jerome's shot as he saved one-on-one with the striker with his legs on 39 minutes. Moments later, Dwight Yorke flatted Dean Whitehead moments from the break when the pair were challenging for the same ball. Whitehead took a blow upon landing, but it was Yorke who didn't come out for the second half, as he was injured and was replaced by Rade Prica.

Prica's Sunderland career got off to a dodgy start when he gave away a free kick within minutes of the restart for backing into Liam Ridgewell, as the Blues came at Sunderland. Sebastian Larsson saw a corner punched clear by Gordon on 50 minutes, but that was about the end of Birmingham's meaningful attacks.

Sunderland doubled their lead on 66 minutes when the debutant Prica latched onto a poor backward header from Ridgewell, before beating Maik Taylor to the ball and lobbing him with a right footed shot that went into the back of the net as the Swede ran towards the supporters to celebrate. What a way to make an impact!

Prica had the ball in the back of the net for a second time on 78 minutes, but it was ruled out for handball, as the ball seemingly made contact with his wrist as he was sent tumbling to the ground under pressure. Sunderland didn't add any more goals, but Prica came close on two more occasions, with Taylor saving his header from Dean Whitehead's free kick late on, before Prica sent a bullet header wide of goal towards the end of a performance that bore some resemblance to Kevin Phillips' heyday on Wearside.

At the end, both of our strikes - Jones and Prica - tossed their shirts into the crowd, as Sunderland soared up to 14th in the Premier League... at least for 24 hours!

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins, Miller, Whitehead, Yorke (sub 46, Prica), Stokes (sub 63, O'Donovan), Murphy, Jones. Subs: Fulop, McShane, Waghorn.

Birmingham City: Taylor, Kelly, Ridgewell, Schmitz, Queudrue, Larsson (sub 66, Forssell), Johnson, Muamba, Kapo, McFadden, Jerome (sub 66, Zarate). Subs: Doyle, Parnaby, O'Connor.