Michael Turner believes the Sunderland defence has shown its worth by standing up to Stoke's ariel onslaught.
A clean sheet in the win over Stoke means that O'Neill's men now have the fourth best defensive record in the Premier League and Turner believes they showed their true spirit with the effort against Stoke.
Turner told the Echo: "You know what you get when you go to Stoke - it's relentless with the balls coming into the box.
"Sometimes, you can't win every ball and you just need to try to get in the way of someone or block them off.
"Credit to the lads, everyone defended for their lives in that penalty area. It was a great result.
"Simon didn't have too many saves to make.
"We kept them to opportunities from long distance and we defended their set plays tremendously well."