Saturday's 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light was Bruce's 10th league game in charge of the Black Cats.

And midfielder Reid believes the boss has breathed new life into the club.

Bruce looked like he was about to suffer successive defeats for the first time when the Hammers stole into a two-goal lead – and then his team saw Kenwyne Jones sent off just after Reid had reduced the arrears.

But Bruce's 10 men made a mockery of the disadvantage with a second-half display that almost saw them snatch a dramatic victory after Kieran Richardson levelled 14 minutes from time.

The performance was in stark contrast to the flat display a week earlier in Sunderland's 2-1 loss at Birmingham, and Reid said: "We owed the gaffer a performance.

"Last season, never mind 2-0 down, if we'd gone 1-0 down I don't think we would have come back. That was the mentality around the place.

"The boss has given us a new lease of life. He's been brilliant.

"He's been straight, he's been fair; at times he's been fun, and at times he's been hard - all the things a manager needs.

"He tells you how it is. When he came in at the start of the season he set out a plan as to what it took to get into his team and what it took to stay in his team.

"Everybody goes out on the pitch and trains under no illusions, Everyone knows what is expected.

"He has been very good to every one of us. I'm really enjoying my football, and it's both a pleasure to be out on the pitch with the lads, and to be off the pitch with them as well.

"There's a great team spirit around the place. We are planning our Christmas 'do' already, and that's a sign of the team spirit.

"You have to protect the team spirit and keep everyone together because there are times you need it, and Saturday proved that.

"We were two-nil down and then a man down and it can then go one of two ways – you can go under, or you can look around at who is beside you and say, 'I'm going to go the extra yard for my team-mates, for the manager and the fans'. That is what we did on Saturday."