Former Sunderland defender Micky Gray has paid homage to Sunderland’s young duo Josh Maja and Joel Asoro after their match-winning involvement on Saturday.
The pair were introduced to the action by Chris Coleman with the Black Cats’ Sky Bet Championship encounter evenly poised against Fulham at the Stadium of Light.
However, Coleman was unfazed by bringing on the youth and they duly delivered the goods when Maja capped his league debut for the club with the game’s only goal five minutes after being introduced.
To results lifts the Black Cats out of the bottom three, and provides a major morale boost as they head into their festive set of fixtures.
“What a relief! 364 days without a home win and I think you sensed that relief with the manager, the crowd and certainly the players,” Gray said on Football on 5: The Championship.
“First half, you have to say we were wasteful. They were making wrong decisions when there was a better pass on.
“Second half they were better. That chance for Vaughan, what a save from the goalkeeper. You look at that and you think are we ever going to score?
“Chris Coleman was ballsy though. 20 minutes to go and he puts on two young lads and they come up with the goods.
“What a day for the young man Maja. He just showed great strength there and awareness too. He’s obviously a goalscorer you can tell by the finish. Absolutely fantastic.
“This is a game and a day that he will never forget for the rest of his career,” he continued.
“Asoro too, he came on at the same time. A few things didn’t quite come off for him but he will get bums on seats because what he does is a threat.
“He’s got great ability and he can take players on and he causes problems and that’s what we’ve been missing.
“It was brilliant, and let’s just hope we don’t have to wait 364 days for the next one.
“It’s a start and Chris is doing fantastic things and getting the best out of the players which is great.”