Jan Kirchhoff was buoyed by Sunderland's intense performance against Manchester City on Tuesday.

The Black Cats may have been beaten 1-0 by Sergio Aguero's 16th-minute strike but it was a solid display against a quality side which suggests to German defender Kirchhoff that his side will pick up some handy points if they play in a similar fashion for the rest of the season.

Kirchhoff, who was superb in his home debut by shackling Yaya Toure, felt this kind of display would hold the Wearside club in good stead if they can recreate it against other teams.

"We put in a lot of power, strength and intensity and I think we have to go on like this," Kirchhoff told the club's official website.

"We have to produce the same intensity in all our games to get points and I'm sure we will get them against other teams.

"Manchester City are a high-quality side; they had one chance and scored, we had a lot but couldn't and that is the game so we have to go on and try to get results."

He added: "When you play on this intensity you can be a very strong opponent to any team in the world; we have good quality and a good team with good players in the squad so we have to perform like this every week.

"There will be other teams who can't defend so well as City and aren't so lucky, so hopefully we will be rewarded for our team effort."