Simon Grayson hailed his side’s display at Bury as a job well done as Sunderland advanced to the second round of the Carabao Cup.
George Honeyman scored the game’s only goal in the 69th minute, cleverly chipping Joe Murphy as he rushed off his goal-line to narrow the angle.
It was a vital goal that sparked life into the Black Cats’ efforts at Gigg Lane that up until then had come to nothing as Lewis Grabban, Aiden McGeady and James Vaughan had all been denied.
But Honeyman’s first senior goal in red and white proved pivotal to send the Lads into the second round where Sky Bet League Two side Carlisle United provide the next test.
Speaking to safc.com, Grayson gave his verdict.
“Tonight you saw a strong team performance,” he said.
“I don’t think we were affected too much by the opposition in terms of the defensive side of the game.
“We played some decent stuff at times and then saw the game out in a professional manner.
“Everybody was here on a Thursday night in front of the Sky cameras looking for an upset but we made sure that they were right mentally and we did that tonight.
“We always knew it was going to be a tough game because they want to get through to the next round and they have got some good players.
“We said at half-time we needed to be a little bit more clinical in that final third with our final pass or cross and it was a good move for the goal,” he continued.
“George finished it with a lot of confidence and belief.
“It was nice to see it hit the back of the net and we then saw the game out in a professional manner to keep the clean sheet.”
