Mel Reay on Sunderland's latest Championship challenge, injury boost and January plans

Sunderland head coach Mel Reay has urged her team to end the year on a high as they face Birmingham City at Eppleton on Sunday afternoon (2pm kick off).

There are just two points between the two sides in the table, with Birmingham having won their last five Championship fixtures. Reay says the potential to be top at Christmas is a huge motivation for her side in what is their last fixture before the winter break.

"It's important that we try and finish the season on a high," Reay said.

"It's a tough opponent, I think there's two points between first and fifth at the top so it's really tight up there and we know that if we can keep turn up and produce a performance then we could stay top at Christmas, which would be a really positive thing for us heading into the new year.

"I think the five up there are very good teams and we're very proud to be up there, and it's important that we carry ourselves now in terms of being up there with the best teams in the league. It's going to be a good game, very competitive.

"We've come a long way in the three years we've been in the division, we've grown and we're getting to where we want to be. We're assembling a squad that is really competitive and we've tasked them with matching what they've done in the first half of the season in the second, and still being up there at the end of the campaign."

Reay's side have warmed up for the fixture with two cup wins, beating Durham Cestria in the FA Cup before a comfortable win at Blackburn Rovers in the Conti Cup in midweek. There was a significant injury boost in the latter fixture for Reay and her side, with central defender Amy Goddard returning from injury as a second-half substitute.

"We were disappointed to lose her for a long time but she's done all the right rehab, been a true professional," Reay said.

"She's kept her fitness up and the Conti Cup was the right time to get her back on the pitch to get some minutes under her belt. She's put herself in the frame for Sunday."

The winter break will allow Sunderland to step up their preparations for the January transfer window and Reay believes that the club can benefit from their impressive first half of the campaign.

"It's important to keep the quad competitive and to add some extra strengths to the squad," Reay said.

"We've lost Keira to retirement so we are one player down from where we started. We are hoping to boost the squad. I think there's a huge difference to previous windows, we're a real attraction when players look at the table. We're bringing players into a team that's joint top, so we want to try and get players who can add value and mix in with what we've already got."