Prica the Pride of Sunderland As Keane Eyes Keegan

Sunderland might just have discovered the strike partnership to keep them in the Premiership. To add to the silky talents of Kenwyne Jones, extolled by his manager Roy Keane as the best striker in the league this season, last night they unveiled Rade Prica. He was an instant hit as Sunderland moved out of the bottom three.

Prica announced his arrival in English football by praising it for its rough and tumble. He then came on as a second-half substitute and scored Sunderland's second, stealing onto Liam Ridgwell's headed back pass. He might have had a hat-trick and has what is best described as appetite. Keane will relish him. This already looks £2m well spent.

There was also an off-field contest going on and Birmingham looked certain to win that. They are on the verge of signing Gary Cahill, the Aston Villa central defender, for around £5m, a player also courted by Sunderland and, most assiduously, Bolton.

Keane is the only Premiership manager who can look frightening while swigging a bottle of mineral water, and he sounds bent upon turning the Stadium of Light into the Stadium of Darkness, a snarling sort of place where angels - or at least rival Premiership sides fear to tread. With only two points away from home all season, they cannot afford much generosity on their own patch.

He has decided that the same threatening qualities are required from his players if Sunderland are to survive. "I'm learning what you need to be a Sunderland player - you have to be tough," he warned ahead of Birmingham's visit.

David Bardsley, on debut from Manchester United, was extolled because he was from Salford, which is "a tough area." It was his composure, rather than his street-cred, that caught the eye in the first half as he controlled the threat of James McFadden with ease, distributed well and felt settled enough to berate Nyron Nosworthy for a wild clearance. Keane will calculate that good Manchester United habits will rub off on the rest.

Bardsley also had a modest role to play as Sunderland took a 15th-minute lead. It was his free-kick from the right that was athletically won in the air by Kenwyne Jones, allowing Daryl Murphy to half-volley past Maik Taylor from six yards for his second goal of the season. Sunderland were spirited, but Murphy's header from Stokes's free-kick from the right, was their only other threat of the half.

Jones is comfortably the most enjoyable aspect of this Sunderland side. He combines athleticism with occasional delicacy, as one dribble from the left corner flag testified. If anyone will keep them up, he will.

Birmingham's only response for 39 minutes was a misdirected Olivier Kapo header from a corner which was flagged for an infringement anyway. But they might have equalised when Cameron Jerome was left clear by Jonny Evans' failure to clear, his unconvincing finish saved low to his left by Craig Gordon.

Dwight Yorke's most eye-catching moment had been to knock his own team-mate, Dean Whitehead, out cold, and Keane replaced him at half-time by another Sunderland acquisition, this time from the Danish club Aalborg; Prica had drawn attention to himself even before taking the pitch with his comment: "Football is more rough here, like it should be played. I know that it hurts to play against me." Within two minutes he had fouled both Ridgewell and Rainer Schmitz, a striker anxious to leave his mark.

There was a zest about Sunderland on the restart that told of their conviction that they could move out of the bottom three. As for Birmingham, they showed little, McFadden switching to the right flank to escape Bardsley, but with only a grazed leg to show for it as he took a tumble over the drinks bottles.

Prica, a Swedish international, then made his mark in the way that Keane calculates that he will, with his first goal for the club only 20 minutes after coming on as substitute. It was an excellent poacher's goal. Ridgewell's header back to his goalkeeper, Taylor, was strong enough to beat off the attentions of the forward closest to him, Jones, but Prica appeared to his right and squeezed the ball adroitly in at Taylor's right-hand post.

Prica then had a second disallowed when he handled in his desperation to score in a thrilling routine which ended with him poking the ball past Taylor.

Newcastle are now only four points away. Can Keane pass Keegan? That would be a turn-up.