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"I’m fed up of praising the visiting goalkeeper at the Stadium of Light," McCarthy said after the game. "The keeper was unbelievable. We started very well but could not find a way past him. One save he made from Stewart Downing was awesome.
"It was a great game for the neutral, it could have been six each. Both keepers played well and a draw was probably the right result, although it was disappointing for us after the start we had.
"We needed a second goal, if we had got it we would have won the game. But credit to Burnley, they came back at us. Their big players played well, they were a thorn in our side.
"At 1-0 it was quite nervy, there is expectation and pressure here and it was quite tense out there. We’ll be positive next match and hopefully we can get a good result."
What a day for Stan as he took his Burnley side back to Sunderland where his football all started as a supporter. He played it down all week but this had to be one big special day for him.
On his return he seemed to forget he is an adopted Lancastrian for a moment and said, "It’s always nice to be back home up here and I think this area is probably the best area in the world for football," and then added, "But my thoughts are now with Burnley and it was nice to take something out of the game. I’m sure the fans enjoyed it too."
Again Stan thought a draw was probably the best result. "We could have won the game but so could Sunderland," he said now recalling that he’s now a Lancastrian.
"They had chances but so did we and it could have finished 6-6. We deserved our point though and created chances which we are always likely to do with Robbie, Glen and Ian Moore up there.
"I thought Sunderland were by far the better team in the first ten minutes and to be fair Brian (Jensen) kept us in it during that opening. But we had chances in the first half and hit the post twice, I think they must have been square posts.
"It was a fantastic game though and I always felt we had a chance and Ian came up trumps."
Stan did have a special word for acting captain David May who apparently was not well and probably should not have played. "David May deserves a special mention because he was sick, violently sick, before the game. And Luke Chadwick played too when he probably shouldn’t have done with his toes. It shows the attitude, they want to play games."