SUNDERLAND boss Lee Johnson admits his side’s win against Wanderers could have gone either way.

Carl Winchester got the decisive goal with a simple finish from close range after some good work by Dennis Cirkin on the left wing.

Eoin Doyle and George Johnston both went close for the Whites on a frustrating afternoon at the Stadium of Light.

Johnson was pleased with his side’s performance and felt that the home crowd made a big difference.

“It is definitely fair to say it was a really tough game,” said Johnson.

“With Sunderland rose tinted glasses I should say we should have killed them off because we played some wonderful football and created plenty of chances.

“But Bolton had good chances as well, probably expected goals, and opportunities wise it could have been 4-3 either way.

“The fans roared us on - we need them. We made some emotive decisions and that led to us giving the ball away too much. I can’t criticise them too much though because I encourage them to play.

“I was really pleased with the three points because that is a good three points. I fully expect them to take a lot of points off teams and by Christmas I expect them to be around the top six.

“We had a good start - it was up to us to pick up the momentum. Just before the goal we asked our full-backs to push on and it worked because the goal was full-back to full-back.”

Wanderers are back in action on Tuesday night when they head to the capital to take on Charlton (KO 7:45pm).

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