JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink was pleased with the way his team handled the trip to the Stadium of Light and came close to pulling off an away win.
After taking the lead through a Cameron Borthwick Jackson strike in the second half, Sunderland appeared to have run out of ideas as the Brewers closed in on three points only to snatch an equaliser deep in stoppage time.
The Brewers had had the better opportunities throughout the game and might have sealed it when Christian Saydee went clean through on goal but he was denied by the keeper.
But Hasselbaink was full of praise for his men.
He said: “We are very proud. We handled them really well, especially the crosses they put in.
“If you think that you come to the Stadium of Light and you can dominate possession then that’s not going to happen, but we contained them in a certain way and we came out and we looked really dangerous on several occasions.
“We had several opportunities to make it 2-0 and even in the first half we looked sharp and created chances which is a very good thing.
“Overall, we had it right today as a team and I think we need to do that coming here because we know they would play a certain way. It was important for us to have someone like Cameron with a good left foot breaking free and able to shoot at the goal and it worked or really well.”
Oumar Niasse got his first start for the Brewers and Hasselbaink was pleased with his performance.
“It’s his first 70 minutes for a long time and we are really happy with how he did. Now it’s about getting fitter and stronger and getting confidence. Only games will do that.”
It was a late night for Albion after the game was delayed for 54 minutes due to a medical emergency in the crowd.
Hasselbaink said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with the supporter, and we hope he is going to be OK.”