Graeme Murty was pleased that his young Sunderland side were able to get something out of their game against Newcastle United. game. The Black Cats grabbed a late equaliser through Alex Bass, with the Wearsiders rescuing a point against the ten men of the Magpies.
Bass had come up for a corner minutes later but was unable to get a clean connection on the set-piece. "He should score the first one!" joked Murty. "He goes up and he jumps he's six foot ten and just completely misses the ball which is unusual. I was pleased for the players because I thought they deserved something in the overall outcome of the game.
"They deserved at least a goal. At one stage I thought their goal was living a bit of a charmed life. The keeper made a couple of brilliant saves and I'm glad for the players."
READ MORE: Alex Bass emulates Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker with late Sunderland equaliser in U21s derby
"Ben Crompton hit the post from a corner and we've had other some good opportunities," Murty added. "We said to the guys at half-time, if we got our structure right and we were better in transition with the ball, not necessarily physically but in our concentration to complete our first pass to set the attack going.
"I would have liked us to be a little more precise in the final third, because I thought that's all that was missing. With a little bit of precision we could have had a few more rewards but I can't be too disappointed. In the manner it came about, I'll have a look on the video and make sure who claimed it because there are all sorts of people claiming it in there.
"It's great. I just said the guys deserved it and they kept going and trying to do the right things. They kept trying to get on the ball in nice interesting areas and play through. I thought it was the least they deserved.
"Obviously the game changes and it becomes very different when they go down to ten, but we have to make sure that we alter our shape a little bit. We didn't change our beliefs and what we try to do, so I'm pleased for the fellas in there.
"The music is going and they're a little bit happier than they would be had that not gone in. In the process of things and where we were a couple of weeks ago to now, I think improvements have been made.
"Players are doing things that we want them to do and we're on an upward curve because it's not easy to come here and go a goal down and react in the right way, which they did."
Sunderland came from behind to rescue a point at St. James' Park, with Murty keen to get his players to enjoy the moment. He said: "It was great and they were trying to play it off when they came out, they were trying to be dead cool 'It's not bad.'
"Let's put that to bed it's a brilliant place to play, it's a Premier League pitch, a Premier League stadium, if you can't have the aspiration to play our stuff here and get on the ball, there's no better surface for you to go and play on. We need to express ourselves and they did."
Murty was able to call upon five first-team players against the Magpies, with Bass, Abdoullah Ba, Jay Matete and Niall Huggins all starting, while Jewison Bennette came on as a second-half substitute. The Sunderland coach said: "The interesting part for me, the young players that come in from the first-team are young players.
"That's the profile of the people that we're trying to recruit and they need minutes. They're still developing and still working towards improving to try and get in the managers' eyeline. They have something to prove and I think they each got something out of it that they needed.
"For us to have the benefit of those players coming into the team is really good because our players learn. First-team players get minutes and our players are learning a valuable lesson, that they need to be the first person on the teamsheet.
"If the manager is going to put first-team players in, you have to make sure that your position is secure and that he doesn't think about dropping a player in your position because you've impressed him enough. We not there yet but that's the journey that we're going on."
"It's a brilliant way to end it," Murty added when reflecting on his first Tyne-Wear derby. "There's lots of young men that are disappointed that they didn't get in the squad, which happens when first-team players come in.
"The cohesion that we saw at the end, the enjoyment, the bonding, it's a brilliant experience for them. Like I said, if you can't come to a Premier League stadium and enjoy it, then you might as well chuck it.
"It was brilliant. I thought the atmosphere was sensational and I think the more that they get the experience of playing in this stadium, the more they get that psychological test of the derby, the better for the players. Ultimately, that's what we're here for so the players develop and improve, move forward in their career. We want to give them the best chance to succeed."
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