Bruce praises players and ´team goal´

Steve Bruce was full of praise for his players after seeing Sunderland secure a narrow 1-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday.

Sunderland went down 3-2 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers for their first defeat in five league matches last Saturday.

Bruce was anxious for his side to put the defeat behind them and he got his wish, with a Jordan Henderson strike enough to secure all three points at the Stadium of Light.

“It was important we got back to winning ways,” Bruce said.

“I’m delighted with a lot of performances, especially the back four with their clean sheet.”

“With the loss of (Michael) Turner and (Titus) Bramble I threw down the gauntlet to (Anton) Ferdinand and (John) Mensah this week and they’ve responded magnificently.”

“They did well, particularly as they were up against players like (Carlton) Cole, (Victor) Obinna and (Frederic) Picquionne.”

“It was a great team goal to win the game and a great finish from Jordan. Let’s hope that’s the first of many.”

“We looked a bit unbalanced at times with Danny Welbeck, Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan, but with those three playing the one thing we are is a threat.”

“Some of our football in the first half was fantastic. It was always going to be difficult because they sat in and played with four centre-halves across the back.”

West Ham boss Avram Grant was disappointed with his side’s first-half performance, but remains confident that the team have enough quality to escape their precarious position.

“We were better in the second half. We started the game not so good. We had chances to score so we’re disappointed,” Grant said.

“We are playing away at Sunderland and we had chances in the second half. They had possession and they scored.”

“It’s fair to say that we need to improve, (but) the gap is not too big, we came here and got a one-goal loss.”

“I think we have a very good squad to stay up. We showed that in our last two games.”