Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon is looking forward to his first Tees-Wear derby against Middlesbrough this weekend.
The Black Cats head for Middlesbrough on Saturday buoyed by their deserved 2-1 victory over Reading which ended a run of four successive defeats.
The 24-year-old said: "We take a lot of encouragement from the performance and result.
"It is going to be a happy place this week. Hopefully we can build on the Reading result.
"We have had some positive performances this season even though the results have not always gone right - like against Liverpool and Manchester United.
"We have shown that we can win games at home, and we need to do it away from home now.
"We are all looking forward to the Middlesbrough game."