Regis Le Bris praised his Sunderland youngsters for believing their 3-2 comeback victory at Swansea was possible.
Sunderland trailed 2-0 inside 17 minutes as Zan Vipotnik and Liam Cullen rewarded Swansea’s strong start.
But Dan Ballard reduced the deficit before half-time and Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham struck in the final quarter to lift Sunderland to third in the Sky Bet Championship – two points behind second-placed Leeds.
Head coach Le Bris said: “We started slowly with two goals conceded on set-plays, but I thought we could get back in the game.
“We had good qualities on the pitch and it was clear in my mind we had to fix one or two problems.
“When we fixed one or two small details, we dominated the second half and created chances.
“We needed to believe it was possible. Emotionally with a young team sometimes it’s white or black and we were in the middle with grey.
“It’s not about the game, it’s about the week. It’s important at the beginning of their career that they have to understand this part of the job.”
Sunderland had not scored three goals in a game since the end of August, but Bellingham’s 75th-minute winner moments after Neil had thumped home from 25 yards was fully deserved.
Le Bris said: “Jobe is a good example (to the others) and scored a fantastic goal. He showed this aggressiveness and character that we needed to change the game.
“It was a question of character, resilience and desire, and we felt this energy that we wanted to score.”
Swansea had taken eight points from four games to move to the fringes of play-off contention.
But the Swans have now lost to the top seven teams in the Championship, and boss Luke Williams fumed at the mindset of his players following their second-half capitulation.
“I don’t want to be average. I didn’t come here for that,” said Williams who arrived 11 months ago from Notts County.
“This was an example of us doubting what we can do and what type of group we want to be.
“There was a lot of doubt – it stank of it. I could feel it coming off the pitch into the technical area.
“That’s my job, I am in tune with my group and I know when they are desperately trying to find a way out of a pressure situation.
“I have been with various different groups that have been on somewhere on the scale between can’t stand the pressure of winning and others that can’t stand the thought of losing.
“We’re miles off the top-six level. We’re not even close. That’s very obvious after watching that.”
