TONY MOWBRAY believes Sunderland might yet make the Championship play-offs, although he insists it will be an unexpected bonus if they do.

The Black Cats’ chances of finishing in the top six improved after they ended a four-game winless stretch with a 1-0 victory at relegation-threatened Cardiff City.

Dennis Cirkin proved the unlikely match-winner when the defender scored his third goal of the season on the hour mark to help lift the Black Cats to tenth place in the table, four points off sixth place.

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Sunderland now have successive home games against Birmingham City and Huddersfield, before finishing their campaign with games against West Brom(away), Watford (home) and Preston (away).

“There seem to be too many teams between us and the top six,” said Mowbray. “Are they all going to fall away? Are they all going to feel the nerves? I don’t know.

“Our next fixtures, on paper, look like ones we can win if we are at our best. If we can can get nine points from three games, including this one, then others might get a bit nervy because we wouldn’t be far off.

“Let’s just play the games. If we get beat, of course it matters to the fans, but it doesn’t matter in the bigger picture in that our aim was never to get Sunderland straight out of League One and into the play-offs.

“It was to consolidate in this division and make sure we are competitive in every game and that we can create an identity of how we want to play.”

Mowbray praised his team’s efforts as they heaped more pressure on Cardiff, who are hovering just above the bottom three.

He added: “I’m really happy for  the supporters. To make such a long trip and the expense involved, it makes it much a nicer journey with the three points to head home.

“We are more than capable of keeping clean sheets. It’s about getting the balance between how many attackers you push forward, and whether you are leaving yourself vulnerable when you are chasing games. That’s the balance you have to get.

“If we can beat Birmingham on Saturday, then Huddersfield on Tuesday night, then we’ll have nine points from these three games.

“That will be interesting to see where it puts us in the table, with three games to go. It would be exciting to go into the last two or three games, still in with a chance of creeping in. But let’s see.”