Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has thanked travelling fans for their Wembley performance on Sunday.
Thousands upon thousands of Sunderland fans made the journey south and Poyet revealed he wanted his players to soak up the full force of the supporters' backing upon their arrival.
"The fans were outstanding; they were on top of the Man City fans all of the time; they made more noise and they wanted it more," he said after the Capital One Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
"We couldn't have approached the game better in my point of view; the players felt what it meant to the fans when we arrived at the ground.
"The team bus pulled up and it was an incredible feeling - the noise the fans made.
"I'm 100% sure they were the best fans today; I'm just disappointed we couldn't celebrate with them."
