The hosts were reduced to 10 men as early as the third minute when Wes Brown was dismissed for a professional foul on Shane Long just outside the area.
Long and new strike partner Nikica Jelavic duly punished Sunderland by each scoring a header to bring their opponents back down to earth with a bump following their 3-0 derby success over Newcastle United last week.
"We're four points off the bottom three but we are tenth," he said.
"It's quite a remarkable season. Usually at this time one or two are adrift.
"I keep saying you have to win 10 games and we've won seven now so it's still all to play for."
"I thought he was outstanding," he added.
"He's been a terrific loan signing for us. We'll do our utmost to make it permanent if we can but obviously we've got to stay in this division first."
