SCOTLAND international defender Russell Martin has hailed former Hamilton boss Alex Neil after he masterminded Norwich City's stunning 3-1 win at Sunderland – and kept his amazing away record intact.

Neil picked up his first win as a Premier League manager - and remains unbeaten away from home since taking charge at Norwich in January.

Skipper Martin, who gave Norwich the lead, said: "It is sensational form away from home and all credit goes to him and his staff for the way that we approach games away from home.

"It is no coincidence that we have got that away form and if we can maintain that away form for long, long parts of the season then we will be more than all right.

"The beauty of playing under this manager is that he attacks everything.

"It is not gung-ho it is extremely structured and organised.

"But we will not be sitting back and hoping to avoid defeat. That is not us.

"It was a brilliant away performance and we will keep attacking teams like that.

"We will be more than ready for anyone.

"I didn't know too much about the goal but fortunately it came off my shin pad and went in.

"It is nice to get off the mark and score a goal and it put Sunderland on the back foot. We dominated most of the game. It was three great points. We imposed ourselves on the game.

"We have set the standard really high now. Three points give us a good start and if people were worried about getting that first win it is out of the way now.

"It is done and dusted and we are off and rolling. If we can keep that kind of performance up we will be more than fine."

Neil was delighted with the win - but disappointed that it didn't come with a clean sheet after his side had opened up a 3-0 lead.

He said: "It was pleasing and I thought we were the better side right throughout the 90 minutes to be honest.

"I think that only disappointment was that we conceded the goal. That was disappointing because I think throughout the game we dominated enough that we should have kept a clean sheet and added to the scoreline. I thought we were fantastic.

"I think the first goal at this level is crucial. There wasn't a great deal in the game but we had enough of the ball to deserve the lead.

"From there we really took charge of the game and dominated it.

"I am really pleased for the players because when you lose your first game, people start to able to question you as a group and to question me and I think we did ourselves justice with the win so I am happy for everybody.

"But it was disappointing to concede that sloppy goal. There are so many positives to take. Three points and we are still undefeated on the road as well.

"The players should be really proud of the away record as they are the guys who go and do the business.

"We were hurting after losing the first game to Crystal Palace as we felt that we didn't get what we deserved. But this week we did.

"The win will give confidence to the group. I told them to play with no fear and they did that."