Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole was delighted with their 4-1 win at Wigan Athletic.
Sunderland were playing their second game in three days but produced an excellent performance to win 4-1 courtesy of goals from Craig Gardner, James McClean, Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan.
A weary but delighted Cattermole told safc.com: "It's been a really busy period for us over Christmas; we've spent a lot of time together and we haven't had the rest we usually would have between games.
"It's been tough so it's great to come away with three points and back-to-back wins.
"We had one day less than Wigan to prepare for the game and in football that's massive as it usually takes you two days to recover.
"Everyone was a bit tired and it was quiet before the game but we all had to dig in as a team and pull together.
"The spirit is great in the dressing room."