Sunderland match Roy Keane saluted match-winner Carlos Edwards after watching him fire his side to the brink of the Premiership.
The 28-year-old Trinidad and Tobago international smashed home a sensational winner 10 minutes from time as the Black Cats overcame Burnley 3-2 at the Stadium of Light last night.
The result put the Wearsiders back on top of the Coca-Cola Championship and, with one game to go, within touching distance of the top flight.
It was the right winger Edwards' fifth goal since his £1.4million January move from Luton and settled a thrilling game in front of a season's high crowd of 44,448.
Keane said: "That was a big problem when I came to the club. Liam Lawrence, credit to him, he did well, but I did not see Liam as an out-and-out winger.
"We were looking. I played Liam Miller out there, I played Grant Leadbitter out there, I think I played Dean Whitehead out there.
"We tried different things and credit to the players, they did really well, but we knew we needed a natural right winger.
"When we played Luton here, Carlos stuck in my mind and we thought we'd go and get him, and we are very fortunate to have him."
Edwards' wonder strike provided a fitting conclusion to an enthralling contest which Sunderland might have had tied up within the opening 21 minutes.
Daryl Murphy's 14th-minute opener put them in the driving seat and David Connolly looked odds-on to end his seven-game wait for a goal when referee Trevor Kettle awarded a penalty for Wayne Thomas' innocuous challenge on the Republic of Ireland international.
But Brian Jensen's save gave his side fresh impetus and Burnley were back in the game when former Black Cats striker Andy Gray converted an equally contentious spot-kick six minutes before the break.
Wade Elliott's 50th-minute piledriver briefly silenced the home fans, but Connolly atoned for his early miss with the game's third penalty on 54 minutes to set the stage for Edwards' late heroics.
The win put Sunderland two points clear of Birmingham and four ahead of Derby, ahead of their respective matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace this weekend.
Keane, whose side travel to Luton on the final day of the season, said: "Derby have to win both games and that still might not be enough.
"We are fortunate after the run we have been on, even after last week's defeat, which we were disappointed by, we knew it was still in our hands. We are not depending on anybody, our destiny is in our own hands."
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill, who was Howard Wilkinson's number two at the Stadium of Light, paid tribute to the remarkable change in fortunes inspired by Keane.
He said: "Roy Keane has done an unbelievable job here — and it is a big job, I would have an idea about that. But he is a big man. Wherever he is, whatever he has done, he has been a big man."
