Black Cats can hack it in big time ( Carter.

Byline: By Paul Gilder

Darren Carter is determined to play a key role in helping Sunderland back into the Premiership after insisting the Black Cats are better prepared for top-flight football than Birmingham's promotion-winning side of 2002.

The 20-year-old, who is midway through a three-month loan spell at the Stadium of Light, is relishing the chance to renew his partnership with Julio Arca during this afternoon's Coca-Cola Championship encounter with Brighton having pinpointed the Argentinian as the club's most valuable player.

Carter made 15 appearances in the Birmingham midfield three seasons ago and scored the decisive penalty in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium which ended the club's long exile from English football's top division.

But having jumped at the chance to head to Wearside having since struggled to establish himself in an expensively-assembled Blues squad, Carter is convinced Sunderland are more than capable of eclipsing the impressive achievements of his parent club.

"Birmingham were pushing for a good three or four years but just didn't quite make it," explained the England Under-20 international, who has hinted that he may be interested in making his stay in the North-East a permanent one.

"At Sunderland, everything is geared towards the Premiership and this is a club which is certainly more ready for it than Birmingham were.

"I have always known that this is a massive club - with Sunderland playing Birmingham twice last season (in the FA Cup) I saw the supporters and I saw this stadium.

"The set-up here is tremendous and it is a club which should be in the Premiership. The hard part is getting the promotion in the first place but if we can get there, the foundations are in place to stay there.

"This is a Premiership club playing in the Championship but hopefully I can stay and play my part in helping Sunderland to achieve promotion. I'm loving it here and I still have a while to run on my loan so, at the moment, I'm just focused on playing for Sunderland.

"I will have a chat with the gaffer soon to see what the situation is but I would love to stay and help the club to win promotion. Anything can happen and I will just wait and see if something develops."

Having flirted with promotion for several years, Birmingham made an indifferent start to the 2001/02 season. It wasn't until Steve Bruce replaced Trevor Francis that the Blues realised their potential but, although winning the play-offs remains the highlight of his young career, Carter is keen to avoid the end-of-term lottery which last year saw McCarthy's side suffer a devastating defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

"We changed manager in December at Birmingham and that had a big impact," he recalled. "At the time we were mid-table but we went on a fantastic run and sneaked into the play-offs right at the end. We were the form side and that helped us get into the Premiership.

"But automatic promotion is not beyond Sunderland and that is what we are all aiming for because the play-offs are always a bit of a lottery. There are teams going on winning runs - Wigan and QPR and West Ham all look strong - and it will be a case of who is the most consistent over the course of the season."

It is George McCartney's troublesome hamstring, and Arca's subsequent deployment at left-back, which will give Carter a chance against Brighton this afternoon. He added: "Julio is a fantastic player who has shown great loyalty to the club and he is enjoying playing here at the minute.

"I enjoy playing with him, he has a few tricks and he is very easy to play with. Sometimes you just have to give Julio the ball because his vision and his passing are fantastic. When any team plays Sunderland, he is the first player to be singled out as a big threat. I can't wait to play with him again."