Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia was pleased with his players' response to a crunch meeting last week prior to defeat to Manchester United.

Sbragia said: "We had a chat on Tuesday and we cleared the air a little bit about how we felt we were going and where we weren't going.

"The players responded to that and responded really well. They gave me everything and that's all I can ask for.

"You just question why in the West Ham game, we didn't get the same performance.

"In Saturday's game, were excellent and without any doubt, we have got to carry that into the Hull game, and West Brom, Everton, Portsmouth, all the way through.

"We have set ourselves a good standard and we have got to keep to that standard."