Cats well-equipped for life in top flight - Carter

Carter, who is halfway through a three-month loan at the Stadium of Light, scored the crucial spot-kick as the Blues held their nerve to win a penalty shoot-out against Norwich City in 2002's play-off final.

Since then, Steve Bruce has guided the Midlands club to successive mid-table finishes and, after signing the likes of Muzzy Izzet and Emile Heskey this summer, Birmingham can rightly claim to be an established Premiership force.

Sunderland have their sights firmly trained on the top-flight after suffering play-off heartache at the hands of Crystal Palace last season, and a run of just one defeat in the last nine league games has underlined the Black Cats' promotion credentials.

Carter is tipping his current team-mates to go up this season and, should they be successful, the versatile midfielder is equally confident that the club's infrastructure will enable them to survive in the Premiership.

"Birmingham were pushing for a good three or four years before they got promoted, but just didn't quite make it," said Carter, who is expected to retain his place on the left of midfield when Brighton visit the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

"Here, everything is geared towards the Premiership so you're talking about a club that is more ready for the Premiership than Birmingham was.

"The hard part is getting that promotion. If Sunderland were to get up to the top-flight, the foundation is already there for them to stay there.

"I've always known that Sunderland is a massive club. With them playing Birmingham twice last year, I saw the supporters and the stadium.

"It's a tremendous set-up and it's a club that should be in the Premiership. Everything here is geared towards that and, if we can get promotion this year, everything's set up for top-flight football."

Carter arrived at the Stadium of Light with a reputation for being a ball-playing middle man but, with Jeff Whitley and Carl Robinson firmly established as Mick McCarthy's first-choice central pairing, the 20-year-old has spent most of his time on the left flank.

He made an immediate impact with a debut goal in last month's 3-1 win over Preston but, after two more starts, found himself dropped to the bench as George McCartney and Julio Arca renewed their profitable partnership. McCartney now faces a fortnight on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury, giving Carter the chance to link up with Sunderland's flamboyant South American.

"Julio's a great player and you can play off him all day," said Carter. "I enjoy playing out there with him.

"He's got a few tricks but, most of the time, he's a player that's easy to play with.

"Sometimes you just have to give him the ball because his vision and his passing is fantastic.

"When you play against Sunderland, Julio is one of the first players you look at and single out as a big threat.

"I'm sure every team singles him out straight away and thinks about how they can deal with him.

"He's a fantastic player and he's shown great loyalty to the club by sticking with them after their relegation from the Premiership."

Carter is also hoping to stick with the Black Cats when his current loan deal expires on December 16.

The youngster opted to move to Wearside after finding himself on the fringes of Bruce's Birmingham squad and, after playing his part in Sunderland's rise up the Championship table, will discuss his future with McCarthy in the next fortnight.

"My time at Sunderland's been brilliant," he said. "It's a fantastic club and whenever people ask me, I tell them it's a great football club that should be in the Premiership.

"I'm not thinking too much about my future because I'm fully focused on playing for Sunderland. I'm loving it up here at the minute and I've still got more than a month left on my loan.

"But I'll have a chat with the gaffer soon to see what the situation is.

"I would love to stay on and help the team win promotion."

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