Isidor proves worth to keep nervy Black Cats in the leading pack

Before kick-off Portsmouth's manager, John Mousinho, suggested all the pressure would be on Sunderland, leaving his players free to relax, improvise and unlock their inner creativity.

- Louise Taylor

It did not quite work out like that but, in one sense, Mousinho was correct. As the final whistle approached R égis Le Bris's team frequently looked so nervous, or perhaps simply fatigued, that a relegation-threatened Portsmouth side reduced to 10 men by Marlon Pack's 67th-minute sending off, could conceivably have snatched a late point.

Instead Wilson Isidor's early goal proved just sufficient to preserve Sunderland's unbeaten home record in a Championship they hope to exit this spring. "We've had a lot of games in a short spell," said Le Bris. "So this one wasn't easy, we struggled and with many big chances missed the game was open until the end."

If half the second tier still retains feasible hopes of reaching the Premier League through the playoffs, the race for automatic promotion looks slightly less opaque. Leeds, Burnley, Sheffield United and Sunderland seem locked into an engrossing struggle to finish first or second.