David Moyes admitted securing Sunderland's first Premier League victory with three points against Bournemouth was a big relief.
Things looked bleak for under-pressure Moyes, who had taken just two points from his first 10 league games in charge, but Jermain Defoe scored from the penalty spot on 74 minutes to steal all three points.
The win moves Sunderland level on five points with Swansea, but they remain bottom on goal difference.
"It's a big relief," said Moyes, who was serving a one-game touchline ban.
"But I never had any question marks over the support of the owner or the support of the board.
"But it's only one win, let's not kid ourselves, we're still bottom of the league. All I can look at is the team above us in the league, and that's the team we have to catch."
Moyes made a brave decision when his team were reduced to 10-men in keeping both strikers Victor Anichebe and Defoe on the pitch and the gamble paid off.
"I've got say well done to all of the players," Moyes said.
"We rode our luck a little bit but we played well and deserved the victory.
"They owed the supporters a victory because they've travelled in numbers and kept with us. And we needed them. But we're not getting carried away - it's only one victory. We now need to focus on number two.
"We had to just hang in and hope that it's your day. When we went down to 10-men, I was thinking 'here we go' but we had our best part of the match in that 30 minutes with 10-men.
"We got our goal and kept at it by keeping two forwards on the pitch. Victor Anichebe was fantastic today - as was Jermain Defoe at different times when we needed them. Ultimately, the goalkeeper and the back four did a great as well."