Roy Keane dedicated Sunderland's Barclays Premier League 2-1 victory over Reading to FA Cup hero Ian Porterfield as his side ended its four-game losing run.
Goals from home debutant Kenwyne Jones and Ross Wallace - who was booked for removing his shirt after scoring for the third time in his career on Wearside - fired the Black Cats into a 2-0 lead with 47 minutes gone, and the game should have been well beyond the visitors as chances went begging.
Dave Kitson's 85th-minute header gave the Royals hope of an unlikely fightback, but Keane's men managed to hang on to claim a deserved three points.
Jones, a €6million sterling signing from Southampton, tore Reading to shreds and might
have completed a hat-trick to announce his arrival on Wearside in style, and his manager could hardly have been more delighted.
Keane said, "It wasn't bad, was it? Very, very good. I thought he did quite well a few weeks ago."
"It's tough for him being up front on his own, but he gives us something a little bit different to the other good strikers we have got at the club."
Reading boss Coppell admitted his disappointment by a performance which did not give his side a chance of getting something from the game until the closing minutes.
However, Coppell he insisted he had no regrets at not including Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle in the 16 after his exertions in the last week.
He said, "It was probably a residue of our previous experience when he played two games for Ireland and then we had a trip to Bolton and by his own admission, he just had nothing left in the tank."
"I watched the two Irish games on TV and he played practically every minute and he played his heart out for his country in both games, in the final 30 minutes of the second game down to 10 men and he was ploughing a lone furrow up front."
"He got back at 2.30am on Thursday and then we were travelling on Friday."
"I wouldn't have changed that. That would be asking too much of him with the travelling involved."
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