Simon Grayson praised his side’s effort and desire to fight back and earn a point at Deepdale this afternoon.
George Honeyman broke the deadlock in the first half, firing home a wonderfully crafted goal from Lynden Gooch who unselfishly back heeled the ball into Honeyman’s path.
But quick-fire second-half goals from Josh Harrop and Jordan Hugill turned the game on its head, leaving the Black Cats with work to do as the end of the game neared.
Former Preston loanee Aiden McGeady had other ideas, though, and after seizing on Didier Ndong’s threaded ball the Republic of Ireland international found the corner of Chris Maxwell’s net with a superbly struck effort from 18 yards.
Sunderland continued to surge forward in search of a winner, with Duncan Watmore, who made his return from a nine-month injury lay-off, spearheading the attack in the final 20 minutes.
But the Black Cats were forced to settle for a point at Deepdale, leaving Grayson pleased with his side’s efforts.
"The players certainly did what I asked them to do," he said.
"We saw a reaction from the other night, we saw the players carry out the instructions asked of them and we had to do to them what they were going to do to us.
"We certainly did that and every man who started and came off the bench contributed to what was an exciting game.
"I thought we were comfortable in the first half. They came back into the game and we were on the back foot but we responded well."
He continued: "We wanted to pick a team that we thought might hurt them.
"We looked a threat and George (Honeyman) has been really good all season while Lynden (Gooch) has earned the right to start the game.
"When we went behind there was a good atmosphere but we didn't crumble.
"We responded and got over the little storm and ultimately scored a great goal from McGeady to get us back in it."
