Sunderland boss delivers this proud verdict on his team's spirited performance at Fulham

Sunderland took an early lead through Jack Clarke and though Tom Cairney equalised in the second half, Mowbray's side created a number of chances throughout to score.

The Black Cats were rocked by an injury to Ross Stewart in the 20th minute, with increasing fears that he is facing months on the sidelines.

That left an XI with an average age of under 22 to play out the rest of the game.

"The overriding thing today is the positivity of an extraordinarily young team on that pitch, one Ross went off there were only two players over the age of 22 on the field, and the played against a team who beat Chelsea here a couple of weeks ago," Mowbray said.

"I know Mitrovic and Willian didn't play most of this game but I still think it was a good performance from a very young team that played with a positive attitude and threatened their goal.

"The team are in a confident place I think, we're very fortunate to have Amad here and I've said before, how on earth Patrick Roberts was playing in League one last year... You add the speed and directness of Clarke to that...

"It was an opportunity for the young players around the group today and they did a really decent job. We have to mention our goalie, you play against a top team and your goalie has to make saves, which he did.

"It was a good day for us, injury aside, and if anything there's a bit of frustration that we didn't see the game out, we felt as if we could have won it.

"Of course, we respect the fact that they're a top team with top players.

"We tried to attack the game and not sit too deep. You could see that on the transition that we could threaten, and with a touch more decision making we could have scored some more goals. It was important to us that we came here and had a go."

The two teams will now play a replay next month for a place in the fifth round.