So, we beat Birmingham 2-0 and advance, as we hoped we would, in the Carling Cup. Job done, but only to be celebrated properly if we also go on to claim the three obvious home points against Wolves on Sunday. Colin Randall offers some thoughts on low-key wins …

Two staples of the Salut! Sunderland Who are You? questionnaire, which we present to a fan of each team we next face in league or cup, are the Eduardo question – effectively “do you mind your team cheating?” – and the scoreline forecast.

Most fans of Premier teams will care relatively little how about how they got on tonight, assuming they were still in the Carling Cup. Look at the attendances (the fact that Sunderland got above 20,000 – just – was, in an odd sort of way since it’s really quite poor, a source of pride if only because it didn’t dip pathetically below 20,000) and at the teams the big clubs fielded. That tells you most of what you need to know.
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Read Pete Sixsmith’s verdict on Sunderland v Birmingham at Salut! Sunderland tomorrow – and stand by for a special Who are You? treat ahead of SAFC v Wolves

Colin Randall‘s shopping list from Hull City (h), Burnley (a) and Wolves (h), nine or at the very least seven points from three Premier games on the trot against supposedly inferior opposition, has already been torn up. A woeful second half at Burnley saw to that. Now, with lots of changes likely, Sunderland have the chance to advance in the Carling Cup. Don’t blow this one, too, Lads …

So the Birmingham City version of Kevin Ball confesses that he doesn’t give a stuff about the Carling Cup.

I’d have said the same last season and the season before, when it was clear all along that we’d be struggling for survival. This season, we have to look at the league cup as just the sort of trophy that is within our reach, given the mixture of ambivalence and contempt with which so many clubs approach it.
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