Chris Coleman was full of praise for the effort and endeavour of his players at the City Ground this afternoon.
Sunderland rolled their sleeves up and produced a well organised display to secure a precious three points against Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship.
Keeping their third clean sheet in five matches, Aiden McGeady scored a speculative header on 39 minutes before the Black Cats dug deep and showed plenty of fight to get themselves over the line in the second 45.
Speaking post-match, the Welshman heralded the attitude and commitment of his players to sign off 2017 with an important win which moves them out of the bottom three.
"We got a response and so much more," he said.
"At any time in the season three points are important but we definitely had to do something different to what we did in the last game.
"I thought the guys were brilliant. I was critical of myself and the team in the last game but this time out I am just so proud of the players, they were absolutely brilliant.
"We played some really good stuff and defended well for really long periods in the second 45.
"They hit the post in the last minute of the game but I thought we deserved the three points.
"Our travelling supporters were absolutely immense," he continued.
"There was a lot of meaning and intent in our performance and that's what pleased me."