Sale came into the game at Ashton Gate 10-9 down following the first leg, and their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals took a hit on 33 minutes when Aaron Reed was sent off for a high tackle.

But the visitors dug in following the setback and crossed for three tries despite being a man down to secure a 44-39 aggregate victory.

“I did guarantee a better performance than last week, and I think we had it from both sides,” Sanderson said after the game. “It was a pleasure to be part of, as nerve-wracking as it was.

“The bench had a real impact and we knew we had to maintain the dominance of the scrum and the maul, which we did.

“To lose an extra man against a side like Bristol with [Charles] Piutau and [Semi] Radradra, we were always going to chase shadows for a while so getting back to 14 men felt like a win.

“There was a lot of effort, a bit of tactics and mostly heart. We play at our best with our backs against the wall and the only space is to fight. We can go anywhere and win.”

Sanderson was quick to defend Reed following his red card, insisting that it was just an unfortunate mistake as the wing misjudged his challenge on Bristol’s Luke Morahan.

“Arron is not a dirty player by any stretch,” he asserted. “He has worked hard on his defence. He is properly gutted, and we will pull him and pull him tight. I don’t think we will ever see that off him again.

“It was one of those things, mistimed, and Morahan came in off his right, but there is no shame on Arron.”

Sale’s victory means they now travel to Racing 92 in the quarter-finals on the weekend of May 6/7/8.

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson was proud of the character his side showed as they battled to a 35-29 victory over Bristol Bears in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 second leg on Friday.