Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill was delighted with victory over Stoke City - courtesy of James McClean's lone goal.
O'Neill, who has now guided the Wearsiders to 22 points from a possible 30 since his appointment in December, was delighted to see his side keep their momentum going with a fifth victory in six league games - particularly given that it snowed relentlessly throughout the contest.
"Naturally, I am delighted with them (his players). This would have been a big test for us anyway, but we hadn't taken the snow into consideration, so from that viewpoint, I am really pleased that we have won and collected these important points.
"There was a lot of snow on the pitch at the end. I didn't think the game was ever going to be called off - the conditions were good enough in the first half. But it was in the last 20 minutes of the game that it really started to lay.""Conditions, certainly in the last 20 minutes, were probably borderline in terms of the game keeping going, although I never for one minute thought the referee was going to stop it," O'Neill said.