McCarthy full of support for Davies after slip-up

Davis was widely criticised in the wake of last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea after his mistake contributed to the home side's 54th-minute opener.

The 28-year-old's thrown clearance put Andy Welsh under pressure and, when the midfielder failed to control the ball, Davis compounded his initial error by allowing Geremi's weak strike to squeeze under his body.

It is not the first time he has been called into question this season, as a defensive mix-up that also involved skipper Gary Breen led to the Black Cats losing 1-0 at Wigan last month.

Davis is yet to show the sort of composure that led to him being named as the Championship's leading goalkeeper last season.

But, with fellow relegation candidates West Brom visiting the Stadium of Light tomorrow, McCarthy has made a timely defence of one of his most-trumpeted summer buys.

"During the season, Kelvin will make up for a lot of mistakes that are made by other people," claimed the Black Cats boss, who will have Alan Stubbs available for tomorrow's game following his recovery from concussion.

"If Kelvin had acted differently (following last weekend's mistake) I might have been worried. If he had come out and said 'It wasn't my fault' or 'I had nothing to do with that', I might have thought there was something to worry about.

"When players come in the dressing room and apologise straight away, you know there's nothing wrong with their head. He was man enough to do that and I'm sure he'll get on with it. The mistake has been made and there's nothing we can do about it now."

While McCarthy will not be dropping Davis tomorrow, he is likely to make other changes in an attempt to win a first Premiership point.

Both Anthony Le Tallec and Andy Gray come into contention for a starting spot after being left on the bench at Stamford Bridge, while injury-plagued winger Matt Piper pushed his claims for a first-time recall with an impressive display in the reserves this week.

The 23-year-old, who has made just 14 starts for the Black Cats since signing from Leicester more than three years ago, scored the opener as Sunderland's second-string drew 2-2 with Blackburn on Monday night.

"Matt hasn't played a lot of games and, throughout his injuries and missing training, it's had a real effect on him," admitted McCarthy.

"He needs a period where he's training every day - which he is doing - and he's playing in the games. That will help him get stronger and stronger."

If Piper does manage to force his way into the action tomorrow, he will find himself lining up against one-time team-mate Darren Carter.

The Solihull-born midfielder made ten appearances for the Black Cats last season while on a loan spell from Birmingham, and played a major role in helping McCarthy's men clinch the Championship title.

He was on the verge of another loan move to Wearside earlier this summer, but found himself making a permanent switch to West Brom when Bryan Robson tabled a £1.5m bid for his services.

"But for different circumstances, Darren would have been here as a loan player," admitted McCarthy.

"We had him on a loan deal, but things changed when West Brom came in and put their money on the table.

"He was here for ten games last season and he did well, so we were looking forward to having him. But good luck to him. He's gone to West Brom and, as far as I'm aware, he's doing well.

"He was young when he came here - he still is now - and he was desperate to be getting games in our first team.

"He was a great bloke. He wasn't in the first team all of the time - he played wide on the left and through the centre - but he really contributed to us getting promoted last year. I was delighted with him."

* Sunderland's reserve game with West Brom, that was due to be played next Wednesday, has been postponed.

The reserves' home game with Wigan, that was postponed in August, will now be played on Wednesday, October 26.

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