Dick Advocaat proud of Sunderland response

Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat has declared himself pleased with his side's response as they held Swansea City to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The Dutchman admitted that he was at a loss to explain his side's poor performance as they lost 3-1 to Norwich City last week.

Fans turned away in their thousands midway through the defeat against the Canaries last week, but Advocaat was pleased to hail a much-improved display against the Swans on Saturday afternoon.

Advocaat told Sky Sports News: "Regardless of the result, we responded very well after the talks and the negative things in the media. We responded very well from the beginning.

"We had the fans behind us today and that helped us respond, so we are pleased and we played well in some moments. Hopefully we can do it again next week."

Advocaat also lamented the decision not to award his team a penalty after the ball hit Ashley Williams on the hand at the Stadium of the Light.

"I said at half time, after a goal down, that we can do something, and we had a clear penalty that would have made it 2-1 and it is small things in the game that can help," he added. "It was a handball and I have seen it back on the television and it was a penalty."

Sunderland host Exeter City in the League Cup on Tuesday.