Sunderland drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday lunchtime

Bertrand Traoré praised Sunderland for their response to a difficult run in delivering a much-improved performance at Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime.

Sunderland lost 3-1 to Fulham at the Stadium of Light a week previous but earned a point at the Vitality Stadium, scoring a deserved first-half goal through Eliezer Mayenda. Evanilson scored an equaliser for the hosts in the second half, extending Sunderland's winless run in the Premier League to four games. However the point brings an end to the losing run and with a number of key players sidelined with injury, represents a step forward for the Black Cats.

Traoré said Sunderland's mentality was much improved and that they can soon get back to winning ways if they take that forward into their next fixtures.

"After every game, we review and critique our performance, the coach tells what he feels about the game," Traoré said.

"As players, we believed that it wasn't enough, we didn't put enough intensity as we used to do last week. Today, I think we responded very good. We competed against Bournemouth at home, we were good, we were leading. Then, when they came back to the game, we tried to get the second one. It wasn't enough and at the end, we shared a point.

"It's positive to take one point, so let's move [forward]. We have three days to take the next game and this is also a good thing, we don't have time to think too much. We just focus on the next one.

"This kind of period can always come during the season and as a promoted team, it's normal. We are lucky this period didn't come earlier in the season. It just came now, but it doesn't have to stay long. We have to turn things around.

"We have to keep doing what we've been doing, working hard as a team, showing great mentality. I think things will be better. We could have taken the three points, but one is not a bad result. The positive thing is that we showed a better character than last week's performance - this is a good thing to take for Leeds on Tuesday."

Traoré admitted he was left bemused by the decision not to award Sunderland an early penalty, when Alex Jimenez appeared to foul Enzo Le Fee. Luck with decisions was not on Sunderland's side in the game, with Tyler Adams avoiding a red card for a challenge on Xhaka in the second half.

Yes, I was on the bench and I saw the images for the penalty appeal," he said.

"I think it's a foul, but it's not our decision. The referee made this decision, so we cannot change it now. Maybe the second penalty, I don't know how many now, the referees will be more nice with us in the future!"

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Bertrand Traoré ready to help Sunderland through difficult period

The winger's return from a knee injury is timely as the squad battle poor form and injury, and the 30-year-old is hopeful he can help the squad navigate a challenging period.

"Yeah it's a nice feeling, I'm happy to be back with the boys," he said.

"It feels like it's been a while because I played my last game on the 14th of December before AFCON. To the end of February has been a long wait for me, so I'm happy to be back.

"Yeah, it's always nice to be back and help the team. This period of the season is the most dangerous period, the weather doesn't help, and also after many games in the legs. You can feel a little bit tired from the games and the weather also doesn't help you to recover. So it can be difficult to keep on going. We have a few injuries, some important players, so I'm happy to be back with the boys. We need to stick together as we have been doing since the beginning of the season. We'll try to get as many points as possible."

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