Elliott Dickman praised the character of his players after they came from behind to defeat Arsenal in the Premier League 2 on Saturday.
Following a goalless opening period, the game sparked to life in the 55th minute when Donyell Malen found the corner to break the deadlock.
Sunderland hit back with real vengeance through Lynden Gooch, who was one of three first-team faces along with Donald Love and George Honeyman in Dickman’s side.
The American struck 13 minutes after the Gunners had got their noses in front, squeezing his effort narrowly underneath a helpless Hugo Keto.
That saw the momentum swing in the Black Cats’ favour, as from there on in it was one-way traffic with chance after chance falling for the Lads.
However, it took Dickman’s troops until the 88th minute to force the issue with Luke Molyneux securing all three points following Ethan Robson’s lengthy clearance, which freed the pacey forward to get in behind.
Speaking post-match Dickman shared his delighted.
“It was very pleasing to see the Lads come from behind to win,” he smiled.
“I was disappointed to go a goal down in the first place, though. It was a cheap goal to give away but it was a great reaction from the Lads.
“There was some good football from the boys and that was pleasing as well.
“It’s a result that says a lot about the character of the team because when we come back like this we usually do it well and that’s what we did today,” he continued.
“We want to see the Lads react a little bit better to set backs and that kind of thing, but credit to the team for coming back against a team like Arsenal.”