Simon Grayson highlighted his side's grittiness to dig in and earn a point against Queens Park Rangers this afternoon.
Sunderland began the match well, quickly onto the front foot with Duncan Watmore leading the line on his first start in 10 months.
Aiden McGeady squandered a guilt-edge chance after George Honeyman’s drive stung the gloves of Alex Smithies.
And then Idrissa Sylla knocked home Luke Freeman’s corner to deal the Black Cats a cruel blow with 38 minutes on the clock.
Sunderland struggled to find their groove in the second 45, but dug deep to earn a point when McGeady bent home his third goal in as many matches to earn the lads a share of the spoils.
Speaking post-match, Grayson delivered his verdict.
"We wanted to win the game and we did have some good chances to do that. After going down a goal following their set-piece we didn’t take it to heart; we dealt with it, we got on the ball better and we created some urgency about us," he said.
"You could tell the players were doing whatever was required to get a result.
"Of course we’re disappointed because we wanted to win and get the three points, but we’re taking small steps and hopefully next time we turn out we get maximum points.
"If [Aiden] McGeady had scored with that early chance it would have really settled us. It was a great ball from Duncan to set that up. It would have given us that first goal, which is so important at home.
"There were a lot of positives in the second half; the players stepped up and they wanted to be on the ball.
"We had some decent opportunities, we just didn’t get the breaks. We certainly looked a threat today and we passed the ball with purpose. The lads who came off the bench had an impact on the game too, which is what you want to see.
"Tyias [Browning] picked up an injury on Tuesday in training and Marc Wilson is still injured," he continued.
"Lamine [Kone] was down to play but fell ill overnight. You finally get your full complement of strikers available and then you lose players at the other end, but Billy [Jones] came in and stuck to the task he was asked to do.
"Lewis has been out for 4 or 5 weeks now and it’s great to have him back and there’s another 75 minutes in the tank for Duncan which is great for everybody.
"We’ve shown some good character today, we’ve not buried our head in the sand and let’s hope we can build on this result and the last one when we go to Brentford next week."
