A proud Michael Duff heaped praise on his Swansea City players for a "magnificent" backs-to-the-wall performance which saw his side earn a point against a good Sunderland side.

The Swans' were made to work hard for the 0-0 draw, especially after Charlie Patino was sent off in the first half an hour of the match. Sunderland dominated for the entirety of the game, but Duff thought the manner in which his players conducted themselves was proof of their unity under his management.

"I thought we were magnificent. I think anything that could have gone against us went against us. But we played 75 minutes with 10 men against one of the best teams in the league," Duff said.

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"Until the red card we weren't good enough with the ball, but I want to talk about the spirit, people putting their bodies on the line and giving everything for the shirt. And we had the best chance of the game! But that went against us.

"We have talked about togetherness a lot, in the last few weeks, and that proves it. They are together. We have had a difficult start, so much change in the football club, but the one constant has been the togetherness. There are things we can improve on and there are things we didn't do, but 75 minutes against one of the most attacking teams in the league and I thought we were excellent."

It is Patino's second red card of his career after he was sent off at the Swansea.com Stadium last season while playing for Blackpool. Whether it was the right decision or not, Duff believes it is a moment from which the midfielder can learn.

“We’ll go through it. It’s part of his learning. If you give referees decisions to make… I don’t think either was a yellow card ultimately," Duff said of the sending off. "It’s why he’s here, different experiences. Arsenal want him to have these experiences with different teams so it doesn’t happen when he’s playing for them. It’s why we have players out on loan.

“We’ll talk to him and show him a few clips but it’s character now. It’s an opportunity for someone else to come in and if they step up he might lose his place. But he’s been good, Charlie. He’s had a lot of headlines this week in terms of a bit of noise and things like that but he’s been flatlining in terms of his own ego, keeping it in check and not getting ahead of himself.

“He knows where he wants to be but he’s prepared to work every day to get there. This will be another part of his learning. Inside he’ll feel like he’s let the team down but he hasn’t let the team down. He’s made a couple of mistakes but it happens.

“We talk about togetherness and the way the players have got him out of the muck so the headline isn’t ‘Charlie Patino cost the team points’ or ‘Jamal cost the team points by missing the penalty’. The team stuck together.”

Fortunately for Patino, that red card, whether supporters felt it was just or not, didn't cost the team any points. Sunderland tried to batter the door down but Swansea stood firm. The hosts' players chased down every ball and threw themselves in front of every shot. That's what pleased Duff the most.

"Supporters want to see that commitment," he added. "Any supporter will forgive mistakes if they see players give absolutely everything for the shirt. Centre-forwards miss open goals and penalties, goalkeepers make mistakes that lead to goals. That's part of it. But if your mates fight like that to get you out of a hole... even Jamal, he didn't sulk, he ran for 100 minutes, right until the end. And even some of the people coming on. Jay Fulton and Ben Cabango made about seven or eight blocks when they were on the pitch.

"And when they did breach that last line, we have a goalkeeper who made two or three really good saves as well."

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The Swansea boss was reticent to be drawn on referee Bobby Madley's performance, despite many home fans feeling the official had made some dubious calls against their side. Duff did say, though, that it felt like it was "us against them in black" at times.

"I'm not going to talk about the referee today," he insisted. "I want to talk about how our lads got through the adversity, how they got each other through. We will take the positives out of the game, rather than the decisions, because I'll just get in trouble.

"It felt us against them. Us against them in red and white and us against them in black at some points. Supporters feel it. It becomes tribal then. I was really pleased we didn't concede. If we did concede in the 93rd minute it would have been a sickener. You'd almost rather get beat 4-0. But up until the 98th minute they gave everything."