Elmo, who has been a substitute for four matches, replaced John Mensah in the 82nd minute but didn't make much of an impact.

Kevin Foley put the visitors ahead on 50 minutes before two strikes from Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck (67, 77) saw Sunderland overturn their one-goal deficit.

However, Wolverhampton regained their slender lead when Stephen Hunt and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored one apiece on 81 and 89 minutes respectively.

Sunderland lie seventh in the league table with 20 points while Wolverhampton are laungishing in penultimate place on 12.