We had to wait until the 93rd minute, but Sunderland finally got a winner - albeit in extremely unconvincing fashion as we made hard work out of a rock-bottom Derby side at the Stadium of Light.

Roy Keane sprang a few surprises in his team selection, namely dropping £9m goalkeeper Craig Gordon and recalling Darren Ward in goal, while Greg Halford and Andy Cole also started.

Stokes' goal came at the end of what could best be described as a turgid game which Sunderland, admittedly, did have the upper hand in. During the first half, we'd had several chances, but didn't really force a save out of the Rams' keeper, as we seemed to stick to a predictable style of play that Derby quickly picked up on. Our best efforts in the opening half came from Kenwyne Jones, who put a shot wide from Andy Cole's flick on on 24 minutes before hitting the post, while Halford came close with a shot and a header towards the end of a dour opening half.

The second half really wasn't much better as Derby pushed forward - Halford deflected a shot out for a corner shortly after the restart - as our attacks forward were sloppy and often broke down in midfield, forcing Jones and Cole to work off of an almost non-existant supply. Sunderland did pick up the pace though, with Dean Whitehead getting fouled (and somehow not giving Derby's Jay McEveley a yellow card), with Ross Wallace forcing a save out of Bywater with the set piece.

Jones came close to connecting with Carlos Edwards' cross just before the hour mark, as substitute Michael Chopra ended up deflecting away a goalbound shot as Dean Whitehead tried to fire in a rebound from Grant Leadbitter's 66th minute strike. Sunderland lost Edwards with a little over ten minutes remaining as the winger's injury-laden season appeared to continue with yet another knock for the Trinidad and Tobagan, before we finally broke the deadlock.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Kenwyne Jones forced a save with his header from substitute Liam Miller's cross - but Bywater failed to keep hold of the ball, as it fell to Anthony Stokes who finally prodded home from close range. Just like back in February, it was yet another last-minute winner at home against the Rams... and this time, the win lifted us out of the dropzone, even if it only papered over the cracks that were evident in our horribly disjointed performance.

Sunderland: Ward, Halford, McShane, Higginbotham, Collins, Edwards (sub 78, Stokes), Leadbitter (sub 83, Miller), Wallace, Jones, Cole (sub 64, Chopra). Subs: Gordon, Harte.

Derby: Bywater, Griffin, Davis, Moore, McEveley, Teale (sub 84, Leacock), Oakley, Pearson, Barnes (sub 70, Fagan), Howard, Miller (sub 86, Earnshaw). Subs: Price, Mears.