Chris Coleman believes there were plenty of positives to take from his side’s display against Aston Villa this evening.
Taking charge of his first match since becoming the new Sunderland manager, Coleman was forced to name a much-changed side as he was without seven regular faces.
However, the Black Cats gave it as good as they had and Lewis Grabban set up a grandstand finish to halve the deficit after Josh Onomah and Albert Adomah had built up a comfortable lead for the hosts.
And while Sunderland were unable to mount a late onslaught to steal a point, Coleman was quick to draw on the positives he saw from his side.
"I don't want to stand here and make any excuses because the last thing our boys need are excuses," he said.
"The cold hard facts are that we have come here with nine or 10 first-team players unavailable.
"The boys that were on the pitch, whatever they had they gave and we just needed to play a little bit smarter in certain areas of the pitch.
"We have got to be a little bit more trigger happy in the final third. We got into one or two positions where we should've shot and we didn't.
"Sometimes that perfect moment never arises and you have just got to get through it.
"Overall, I thought the boys worked their socks off, we worked yesterday for 20 minutes on a game plan so we haven't had much time together.
"They tried to do what we asked and that is key for us moving forward," he continued.
"We know everyone talks about wins and at the end of the day it is all about three points but what we need to do concentrate on performances.
"Preparation, performance, preparation, performance - that's how you get better and that's how you turn the tide."
