Sunderland defender John O'Shea was happy to be playing again after making his comeback in the draw at Aston Villa.
O'Shea is looking to finish the campaign strongly, including a game against his old club on the final day of the season.
"The big thing for me was to get through the 90 minutes; it was a big boost for my fitness," said O'Shea to safc.com.
"I felt it a bit in the first half but I was a lot more comfortable in the second.
"Fingers crossed I can stay fit for the rest of the season and we can pick up a few more wins as it's frustrating when we're not scoring.
"We have to take that into the last three games - we need to finish as high up in the league that we can."