Sunday's Premier League victory over the Potters was the Black Cats' first of the season and dragged them out of the relegation zone into the relative comfort of mid-table. In the process, it lifted the cloud which had been hanging over the Stadium of Light ever since arch-rivals Newcastle turned up on August 20 and left with all three points. Larsson said: "It is a massive win because you don't stop hearing about it, getting that first win. "We had slipped down the league a little bit and you never want to be there, so it's nice to get the first three points and hopefully that can really get us flying for the forthcoming games now." Manager Steve Bruce had found himself, unfairly in his opinion, under pressure from disgruntled fans with some commentators suggesting defeat by Stoke could prove fatal for him. However, having raced into a 2-0 lead within 11 minutes - they had scored only twice in their previous five games - the Black Cats ended a run of eight defeats in nine home league fixtures and sent the locals home celebrating a league win at the Stadium of Light for only the third time this calendar year. Asked if the pressure had been transmitted to the dressing room, Larsson replied: "Of course. We all knew, we were all desperate for that first win. "We know what has been said about the start to the season and we know what we are capable of, so of course we wanted to put it right and get the first win, especially here at home. "We lost the opening two games and we wanted to give the fans something to be proud of. "We knew the performance was in us and we know we can score goals, and it was nice to show that." Bruce and his players might argue that they had enjoyed little good fortune during the opening weeks of the season, but their luck changed markedly in the space of 28 minutes. Titus Bramble's fifth-minute shot seemed destined for the arms of Asmir Begovic until the Stoke keeper spilled it over his own goal- line, and there was another red face among the visitors' ranks six minutes later when Jonathan Woodgate headed into his own goal. Craig Gardner benefited from a helpful deflection off Ryan Shawcross to make it 3-0 17 minutes before the break, although there was nothing fortunate about Larsson's perfectly-placed 58th-minute free-kick. Both the performance and the result vindicated Bruce's decision to ring the changes, one of which saw skipper Lee Cattermole reduced to the role of substitute. His place was taken by former Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan, whose individual display suggested Cattermole may have a fight on his hands to regain his place. Bruce said: "Lee Cattermole is another one who has been in and out and had two or three serious injuries. "I am a big believer - and I have been in it a long, long time - that you don't really get that back until you have been back as long as you have been out. "It's normal. It's because they have had serious injuries which take them time [to get over]. The more they train and they play, they get better and better. "They need games, and Lee certainly comes into that category. "Nobody epitomises what I like about a footballer more than my captain, but at the moment, it's not going too well for him, so we gave somebody else a go in David Vaughan. "He brought that little bit of composure we were looking for and had a wonderful debut." Bruce fielded seven of his new arrivals in the starting line-up after vowing not to rush them into action, and is happy with the headache with which Sunday's performance has now presented him. He said: "I have said all along, it's important that there is a squad, and it is a squad game, as we found out to our cost and our peril last year. "We didn't have the depth to deal with what we were thrown and to be fair, it was very, very difficult. "The most difficult part of the job I have got at the moment is I know I have got some very, very good players and I have got to try to find the balance. Thankfully yesterday, we got it right."
