Sunderland did not produce their best performance of the season at Norwich according to Trai Hume - but the Black Cats showed the steel required to climb back towards the play-off places. The Wearsiders arrived in Norfolk on the game of three successive defeats and on a run that had seen them pick up just a single point from four outings.
But Abdoullah Ba's goal in the first half at Carrow Road gave them a 1-0 win against play-off rivals Norwich to stop the rot and get them back on course. Hume was part of a defensive unit that stood firm in the face of heavy Norwich pressure in the second half and, while the fact that the Canaries dominated possession meant there was room for improvement in the performance, it was nonetheless an important result as it brought Sunderland back up to tenth in the table and to within five points of the play-off places with ten games remaining.
"It's good to come away against a good side and get three points," said Hume. "Obviously we'd had three losses in a row so the main thing was to get the win.
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"I wouldn't say it was our greatest performance because they kind of dominated the ball and that's what we look to do, but it was good to get the three points and that was the only thing that mattered. For us as players we want to try and push ourselves as much as we can.
"Obviously we have dropped out of the play-off spots in the last couple of games but we don't see why can't win the next couple of games and get ourselves back up there."
Ba's goal came on the quarter-hour and it was the Frenchman's first in English football since his move from Le Havre in the summer. Hume said: "It was good for Abdoullah and it will help his confidence.
"Obviously he hasn’t played as much as he probably wanted to but he started the game on Sunday and he's scored a great goal. Maybe we could have got a few more after in the first half."
Sunderland shipped five goals the previous weekend at home to Stoke City but they put that behind them to keep a clean sheet at Carrow Road. Hume said: "We had to defend a lot through the game and as a team we tried to press from the front. Whenever they beat the press we had to drop off because they are a good team and they dominate the ball well.
"From the back through to midfield we had to defend well and we did that."
Sunderland's win at Norwich was a good start to a difficult spell of games which continues tomorrow when second-placed Sheffield United visit the Stadium of Light, before fourth-placed Luton Town arrive on Wearside on Saturday. That is followed by a fortnight-long international break - during which Hume will be away with the Northern Ireland squad - but Sunderland resume their campaign on March 31 against runaway Championship leaders Burnley, who are yet to lose at Turf Moor this season.
He said: "They are good teams on the ball and we are a good team, so they are not really going to sit off us. They want to try and dominate the ball the way we like to so it makes it feel more like a basketball game, it's attack, attack, attack.
"Whenever the first team gets that goal you look after the goal a bit more."
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