Sunderland won their first league game of the 2019-20 season on Saturday afternoon as they dispatched Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light 2-1.
The result was just the tonic the club and fans needed as they turned a lukewarm start into something more positive with a victory against a fellow promotion rival.
We caught up with midfielder Max Power to discuss the victory and a big week ahead where we face Rochdale on Tuesday and AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
“I think first half we were caught a bit and were struggling to get on top of second balls and we were a bit hesitant but we grew into the game," he said.
“There are quite a lot of new signings here. It is quite a new squad, so it is going to take time to gel. The signs are showing now though, and we got a good victory against Accrington on Tuesday and the Lads who have came into the team have done well.
“Winning is good habit to get into and that is two on the bounce. It sets us up for another big week as we have two games coming up. It is important to try and build the momentum as quick as we can.”
He continued: “This is a football club who has recently been in the Premier League and is now in League One against teams that on paper we are expected to beat.
“I get the frustrations, as players and as staff we are frustrated too. We go out to win every game, all we can do is concentrate on ourselves and I think the performance at Ipswich was a real wake up call.
“We have gone back to basics. For me as a player I think the only thing you can do in tough times is work hard and believe in yourself and believe in your team-mates.
“We have had two good performances now against sides that are going to be up there. It was a tough battle against Pompey. We had two moments of quality today, the header from Willis was phenomenal and when you have McGeady on the pitch you know he can skip past players and show his quality – he did that for Chris Maguire's goal.
“We showed great quality today at both ends of the pitch especially towards the end where we repelled everything Pompey through at us.”
