Premiership: Quinn’s the clincher for Sunderland

Sunderland 1-0 Blackburn

Niall Quinn staged another rescue act to hand Sunderland three points against Blackburn and earned the praises of his manager Peter Reid.

The 34-year-old Ireland international replaced Lilian Laslandes on the hour and headed the 79th minute clincher past Rovers keeper Brad Friedel in a 1-0 victory.

And Reid believes Quinn - who later headed a goal-bound Matt Jansen effort off the line - can keep spearheading Sunderland’s Premiership challenge for some time to come.

‘‘Niall is still a fantastic asset and he still spreads panic in defences because of his physical presence and his positioning,’’ said Reid.

‘‘Niall can still play two games a week for us and he’s still got a lot to offer. He is as fit as he has been for a long time and that is a major boost for us.’’

Sunderland’s victory was their second of the season and their second-half display hinted at brighter things to come but Reid reckons there are still plenty of improvements to make.

He added: ‘‘In the first half I thought we were trying too hard. We’re not quite at full tilt yet and it was difficult out there at ground level with the swirling wind.

‘‘I don’t think we’ve played really well this season and we’ve got seven points, so I can’t wait to see us start playing well!’’

Rovers boss Graeme Souness insisted his side deserved to take something out of the game and rued a number of missed chances from breakaways, as Sunderland exerted much pressure.

The dangerous Jansen was particularly unfortunate on a number of occasions, but Souness said: ‘‘This proves a point, that at the highest level you get punished if you do not take your chances.

‘‘Nobody can doubt that that is what happened today. We were guilty of missing some very good chances and at this level you must take them because there will always be strikers at the other end who will score goals.’’