Black Cats captain Lorik Cana was a happy man as he looked back on a good day's work against Liverpool last weekend.

The 26-year-old led his team to a 1-0 victory as Darren Bent scored early on to move the club into the top seven of the Barclays Premier League.

"It was a great game for us, especially for the players on the pitch; we really enjoyed the game," said Cana.

"We started very well with a lot of pressure.  We knew how important this game was for the future, so we started with power and determination.

"The players were not too tired from the international break and it was a great atmosphere in the stadium, from the supporters."

The former Marseille man was forced to show his versatility by moving into central defence after George McCartney withdrew through illness at the break.

Slotting in alongside Michael Turner with Anton Ferdinand at left-back, Cana helped fortify the home defence against a late Liverpool bombardment.

He continued: "It was two totally different halves.  The first, we played high with pressure and scored with merit.

"It was different after when he lost Kenwyne and Catts - I played in defence and we didn't have as much pressure in midfield.

"Central defence is not something new for me.  I have played there for my country and I have experience in that position.  I used that experience to help the team as much as I could."

And of course the whole country is talking about the infamous 'beach ball goal' - except the skipper, who admitted he's only just seen the replay on television and says he'd rather highlight the team's performance throughout the match.

"It was something amazing," he revealed.  "I have never seen that before but of course for them it is not easy to accept. 

"But we should just look at the football game as a whole.  We played probably 100 minutes and we had many other opportunities to score.

"We were the best team on the pitch."

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