Influential Sunderland defender Chris Mepham admitted the team weren’t at their best against Portsmouth and maintained, “I think we had a few more gears to get out of.”

Nevertheless, the one goal they scored through Wilson Isidor – his finish made easier by keeper Nicolas Schmid’s rash decision to burst from his goal without covering it – was enough for victory. It moved the Black Cats to within three points of leaders Leeds United.

“Again it was probably a little bit short of our best,” said Mepham. “But I still feel like we created a lot of clear-cut chances. On another day we could have been three or 4-0 up. So I think we limited them to few chances without us being really at our best. It’s another win and it’s nice to get a clean sheet. It feels like it’s been a while. It was a good day’s work and we have a bit of time to recover before the next Championship game.

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“I think we probably had a few more gears to get out of. It’s encouraging that even though we are not at our best we still created three, four, five good opportunities which on another day I’d like to think we could take. We controlled the second half, but we could have seen the game out and been more calm to make it less tense. With them being down to 10 men and 1-0 down they were always going to throw the kitchen sink at us. So I thought we weathered the storm well.”

Isidor went through a spell of not scoring but now has two in two games.

“It was another really good finish from Wilson and he looked a real threat throughout the game as well,” added Mepham. “He had the offside goal as well and I thought him and Ellie [Mayenda] looked a real threat. I think we’re really playing to their strengths now.

“To get them in behind, playing them on the counter-attack, we have shown time and again this year that this is when they are at their most dangerous. Wilson showed that clinical edge which he lacked for a couple of games but he looks back to his absolute.best again.”

Defensively it was a rewarding day too and he continued: “It was good to get a clean sheet, it feels like it’s been a long time but I thought we probably deserved one against Sheffield United the way we defended and how disciplined we were as a team.

“Here we probably rode our luck a bit at times, but all in all we were the most dominant team and we limited them to very few chances and it’s always nice mentally to get a clean sheet. We know if we keep goals out at one end we have the quality at the other end to go and score so it’s really refreshing to get another clean sheet.”

It’s the FA Cup against Stoke City next and he concluded: “Hopefully it will be a good opportunity for lads who haven’t been getting the minutes they probably want.

“But at the same time I think when the team is doing well it’s tough for others to get that opportunity. We don’t know what the manager is going to do and what team he is going to put out. I like to think we will give a good account of ourselves and it also gives us a chance for the lads struggling a bit, and under the weather, a bit of time to recover ahead of the Burnley game, which in all our heads is probably the big, important one. But it’s also important to give a good account of ourselves on Saturday and get a good result in what is a really good cup tie.”