SIMON GRAYSON thinks Sunderland have shown they will not be an ‘easy touch’ under him and that the club’s supporters are getting a flavour of what he wants his team to be like during his time on Wearside.

The Black Cats had to battle to ensure they claimed a 2-1 victory and avoid a Carabao Cup shock at Carlisle United.

The League Two side had numerous chances and only some good goalkeeping from debutant Robbin Ruiter prevented home side from scoring more.

Instead Sunderland, who made ten changes to the team which lost to Leeds on Saturday, managed to edge 2-1 ahead in the closing stages to book a place in round three.

Donald Love had put Sunderland ahead in the first half but Carlisle levelled on the hour when Danny Grainger followed up his saved penalty by converting the rebound.

Sunderland won courtesy of Lynden Gooch’s brilliant winner ten minutes from time and the players celebrated with the 2,000 travelling fans in the corner.

And Grayson said: “Hopefully you can see the unity is getting back with the supporters, it shows how much it meant to them to win the game.

“I have shown them that we can be resilient, we have shown we are not an easy touch and it’s a good trait to have. That’s the sort of mentality we want to instil.

“We had to get back to winning ways after losing to Leeds. We need that winning mentality. We had fans out in numbers. All you can do is keep putting in performances.”

Sunderland will focus on returning to Championship action this Saturday at Barnsley, when Grayson will have been given a few things to think about in terms of selection.

As well as Gooch impressing and Ruiter shining between the posts, there were other plus points which Grayson will consider. Ruiter, particularly, has shown he will be pushing Jason Steele hard for the No 1 spot this season.

Grayson, who is still working on adding to his squad, said: “Ruiter made saves when he was required to and that’s why we have signed him after his trial. I am also pleased with some of those who have come in for the first time since pre-season, like Papy Djilobodji.

“I think you need competition for places. We will look at Barnsley game now and see what is available. We left a few out to get a breather. It’s nice to have some options.”

And Grayson knows how hard his team has to work to edge past Keith Curle’s Carlisle.

The Sunderland boss, who revealed the returning Bryan Oviedo is fine after being taken off as a precaution, said: “We knew what it would be like here, playing with tempo and withstanding a bit of pressure because we have watched them.

“We knew we couldn’t be the scalp of the round and we had to get through and they have done that. Carlisle asked us questions. They had a couple of big lads up front.

“We played a different system initially and maybe the players found it more difficult to come to terms with it. We still had good chances. Ultimately we have some pleasing points and some things to work on.

“We said before the game that we needed to change the squad around to rest a few of the players who have been playing and we still got through the tie. We played good stuff at times and that’s good to know.”