Alex Neil hails Sunderland's best performance since he took over in five-star Cambridge victory

Alex Neil says Sunderland could have hit double figures against Cambridge United in what he feels was the best performance since he took over on Wearside - no matter that it was against ten men. The Black Cats ended up winning 5-1, but were assisted by playing for more than 75 minutes with a man advantage after U's defender Lloyd Jones was sent off for denial of a goalscoring opportunity when he fouled Ross Stewart inside the penalty area.

Neil felt it was a clear penalty but agreed with Cambridge boss Mark Bonner that the red card was harsh, but from the moment that Stewart converted the spot-kick Sunderland did not look back. Elliot Embleton, Stewart again, Nathan Broadhead, and Danny Batth added further goals, with Paul Digby briefly pulling one back for the visitors to make it 2-1.

And the win lifted Sunderland up to fourth in the table, keeping them firmly on course for a play-off place with two games left to play. "From minute one, I thought we were great," said Neil.

"We moved the ball really well, and we had a clear plan in terms of how we wanted to play the game and the lads carried it out magnificently well. We could have scored double figures, if I'm honest, with the amount of chances we had.

"There were numerous excellent performances across the pitch and a real highlight was our professionalism in the second half, in terms of not giving them any opportunities, starving them of the ball, don't risk it and just keep rotating it, the chances will come and we'll get more goals, which is exactly what we did. I'd probably say this was our best performance, and I know people will say it was against ten men but how often have we seen games against ten men where it becomes really difficult, and the ten men maybe