Ross Stewart admits he needed luck on his side to edge his Championship goals tally into double figures. The Scotland international scored his tenth league goal - and 11th in all competitions - in Sunderland's 2-0 win against Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light this lunchtime.
But the goal came after Stewart had seen his penalty kick saved by Boro keeper Zak Steffen, with the rebound falling kindly for the striker to tuck the ball home from close range. Stewart had won the penalty when he was fouled by Dale Fry five minutes into the second half, with the Boro defender also sent off for a professional foul.
Stewart said: "It was good to get another goal, albeit there was a bit of luck needed but you take those all day. There was a wee bit of luck there, but as a striker you maybe need a couple of those a season!
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"The penalty was a funny one because I changed my side and the keeper has made a good save. When the keeper saves it, your initial reaction is always 'where has it dropped' and thankfully it dropped back at my feet.
"It was good, because I thought that up to that point we thoroughly deserved that. It gave us a good platform."
Sunderland added a second goal through on-loan Manchester United forward Amad ten minutes from time to wrap up the points. "Amad came up with a great finish just to finish it off," said Stewart.
"It was a great day all round and a good day for the fans as well. We're very pleased.
"We knew it would be a tough game - it had an element of a derby about it. I thought the overall performance was excellent and really merited the win.
"Middlesbrough have been flying. They have got a lot of good players and they have been playing really well, but I thought we more than matched them today and we were better and fully deserved our win."
Stewart has now scored eight goals in his last eight games, and 11 in 14 appearances in all - an excellent return given that he missed three-and-a-half months of the campaign with a thigh injury. He said: "I'm delighted with that return, especially given that I have missed so much of the season as well.
"When you come back after being out for so long, it's always a case of whether you can get back amongst the goals and thankfully I have been able to do that. It's made a bit easier when you have players like Amad and Pat [Roberts] and Jack [Clarke] playing behind you, but we've spread the goals about and we are a team that feels it can always create chances and when we put them away like we did today, it gives us a great chance of winning games.
"It makes life easier in that I know I just have to get into areas and they have the quality to find me. You saw that today - there were a lot of intricate one-twos and stuff that Pat and Amad play that's really good to watch and good to be a part of.
"When you are playing like that and you can add goals as well, and keep clean sheets because I thought the back four was excellent as well as well as Patto [goalkeeper Anthony Patterson], there's a lot to like about us."
Sunderland are currently struggling with injuries, with captain Corry Evans limping off early in the game to join a lengthy casualty list that already included Lynden Gooch, Dennis Cirkin, Niall Huggins, Alex Pritchard, and Elliot Embleton. Stewart said: "We're very stretched as a squad at the moment.
"To lose Skip [Corry Evans] early on was a big blow because he is such a big player for us. But Edouard [Michut] came in and did really well and that's what we need. Credit as well to Ajji [Alese] who had been out for five or six weeks but came straight back in and was excellent."
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