Martin O'Neill was quick to praise Sunderland's battling qualities after seeing them frustrate top-four contenders Tottenham at the Stadium of Light.
Black Cats boss happy with battling point taken off Spurs
Martin O'Neill was quick to praise Sunderland's battling qualities after seeing them frustrate top-four contenders Tottenham at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats were forced to soak up plenty of pressure in front of their own supporters, but ended the game with a hard-fought 0-0 draw to show for their efforts.
In truth they offered little as an attacking threat over the course of the 90 minutes, but O'Neill makes no apologies for sending his side out with the intention of containing one of the best teams in the country.
He told
Sky Sports: "It's part of football. We shouldn't have just allowed them to come here and pick up three points, it's not like that.
"We had some chances in the game ourselves. While in terms of possession and the way we played last week (against Manchester City), we didn't reach those heights, we were up against a top quality team who have been vying for a Champions League place and up until a couple of weeks ago might have been in the running for the league itself.
Commendable
"All you have to do is look at the bench, the players they brought on, it's been a commendable effort by our players.
"We have been frustrated here ourselves against teams who have sat back, but we have had chances in the game. We may not have reached the same heights as we did last week, when we were splendid, but it was a hard-earned point."
O'Neill feels back-to-back draws against Manchester City and Tottenham show just how far Sunderland have come since he inherited the managerial reins from Steve Bruce in December 2011.
He said: "We have played two teams in the top four - we should have won at Manchester City and we have got a draw here today in a game which was very, very tough. I thought it was tough for us and I thought it was tough for Tottenham."
