Matthew Kilgallon was happy with his home debut for Sunderland in their 0-0 draw with Stoke City.
The former Sheffield United man - a January acquisition for an undisclosed fee - partnered Michael Turner at centre-half after playing alongside John Mensah at Everton.
"As defenders we love clean sheets," he told safc.com. "Everyone worked really hard from the first whistle and it's not just down to the defence - defending starts from the front.
"It was a battle. We did all our work on Stoke and we were clued up on them. We've got some big lads as well and I thought Kenwyne did really well on the long throws and helped us out.
"The lads have been telling me how good it feels when the fans get behind us and they did at times, when we started to pass the ball.
"From where I was the handball looked like a penalty but at the other end Craig Gordon pulled out some world-class saves.
"On the whole we did well as a defence. John Mensah and George McCartney did well out wide and didn't give their wingers too much."