"We played very well and I've just told the players that I'm proud of their efforts," the Sunderland boss said after the game at The Stadium Of Light.
"It's that final bit of quality we need, we've had several good opportunities to score, they've had a couple and put them in the net.
"But Darius Vassell is playing for England, Trevor Sinclair has played for England as well and is a well-established Premiership player.
"He got a lucky break when it fell to him but he's put it in the net - we've had our chances and failed to put them in.
"I'd hate to think we'd been slaughtered in two games and come off having no hope but that's not the case.
"If you look at the stats, how many crosses we've put in and how many shots we've had I think we'd come out very healthily.
"But it's not all doom and gloom. Ten wins we need, where are we going to get them from? We've got 35 games left yet and we're going to keep scrapping."