Corry Evans reveals the Sunderland dressing room reaction to Alex Neil's Stoke exit and Norwich defeat

The Black Cats took to the field without head coach Alex Neil in attendance, with the Scot set to finalise a move to Stoke.

Neil left the Academy of Light on Friday morning after saying his goodbyes to players and staff at Sunderland’s training ground.

Martin Canning, Neil’s assistant, then took charge of the team for Sunderland’s match against Norwich, as striker Josh Sargent scored the game’s only goal at the Stadium of Light.

When asked about Neil’s departure, Evans said: "Obviously he kept us updated yesterday morning and told us what was going on, he just wanted to keep us in the loop.

“He continued to take training and as far as we were away it was just a normal day. He took the preparation for the game, he took the analysis and everything and we as players just had to crack on.

“We can’t control anything else that happens so our full focus was on today’s game and on the game I thought we executed the game plan very well. On another day we could have come away with the three points.”

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Sunderland have now played six Championship fixtures and more than held their since returning to the second tier.

“It shows the strength of the group now and the character we have in the dressing room,” Evans added when discussing the performance against Norwich.

“Today I am proud to be a part of that team. I’m sure a lot of questions were being asked about the players but I thought we handled it really well today and on another day we go on and win that game.”