On both occasions City's backline stood firm before clinching the winner in the second half.
Sven felt the first goalscorers would end up winning last night's game and so it proved with Stephen Ireland's 67th-minute volley taking City back to 3rd in the table.
"We said on the bench at the start of the second half that if we score first, we'll win the game," said Sven. "There were few chances for either side, but that's what we expected.
"It was a battle to win the second balls, but it's important to defend well, which we did last Wednesday and against Sunderland. After a 6-0 defeat you want that, a tough mentality and the will to battle. We didn't play the best football, but we know we can do that as well.
"It was similar to Bolton. We had to fight but we had talked about this since last Wednesday as well. We did a lot of defending in training after Bolton, because if you don't defend well, you can never play good football, so it's a good basis but we know we can play better than that."