The Black Cats boss expressed his relief after the narrow win but again stressed teams will come to the Stadium of Light with a negative attitude.
"It's frustrating and a scrappy three points but we played better last year and got beat,'' he said after the 1-0 victory.
"We frustrated ourselves and we had enough chances to have scored considerably more goals.
"We became nervous and could have thrown it away but I fancy ourselves against anybody at home who wants a game of football.''