Sunderland boss Gus Poyet admits he almost blundered their late, late derby win at Newcastle United.

Poyet admitted he was about to take Johnson off minutes before he struck the winner.

The Uruguayan said: "I have to be honest, I was taking Adam Johnson off and for some reason, I didn't. Don't ask me why because I don't know, and luckily enough Jonno scored the winning goal, which is fantastic for us."

Asked what had prompted his 81st-minute change of heart, Poyet added: "It was the previous action to when the referee was probably stopping to change.

"Adam Johnson went in behind, checked back, missed the chance - I don't know if you remember, when he checked back on Coloccini and with the left foot, missed the goal?

"What we were looking for was to go in behind - that was Buckley coming on - and Jonno did it, so I said, 'No, no, no, change Connor, number 10'.

"Decisions. You can call it luck or whatever, but we haven't had too much this year so if it is luck, I'll take it for once. It's not bad."