Interim boss Mike Dodds was left 'shellshocked' by Sunderland's first-half horror show against basement side Doncaster Rovers, admitting there are 'no excuses' for their performance.
The Black Cats produced a dire first half display at the Stadium of Light and found themselves 2-0 down at the break - the only surprise being that the South Yorkshire side were not further ahead.
Sunderland pulled a goal back right at the end of the match when it was too late, but it might have been a different story had Ross Stewart's header been given when it appeared to cross the line on the hour but the officials failed to spot it.
Dodds was not looking for ifs and buts at the end of the game, however, acknowledging that the result was Sunderland's own fault for giving Doncaster a two-goal lead after an 'unacceptable' opening 45 minutes.
"I was going into the game quietly confident because you can get the feel and smell the dressing room, the training ground," said the U23 coach, who was taking charge of his first game as the club searches for a new head coach following the sacking of Lee Johnson last weekend in the wake of the 6-0 defeat at Bolton.
"So I'm still a bit shellshocked, to be honest, because I felt that we were in a really good place.
"I'm devastated for the lads because they have been magnificent this week. I felt there had been a drop-off in work ethic or focus, then I wouldn't have put this starting XI out.
"But it had been a good week - we had lots of meetings with individuals, two or three days good work on the grass, they seemed really positive, and there was a real focus and intensity.
"This is the toughest industry in the world and we have dust ourselves down and know that that spell in the first half wasn't acceptable and make sure we aren't feeling sorry for ourselves on Tuesday [at Cheltenham]."
He added: "There are no excuses from us.
"We had a 20 minute spell in that first half where we lost our discipline and shape and everything we had worked on in the week.
"You can't give any team a two-goal head start in a game, because the emotion kicks in and you start to lose focus on what you have worked on.
"Regardless of whether it [Stewart's header] was a goal or not, we know that our performance was not acceptable.
"I've been asked to captain the ship this week, there were 38,000 fans here and we were desperate to give them a really positive Saturday evening and we haven't been able to do that.
"That said, we've got another game on Tuesday so we can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves.
"This is a magnificent football club and even though I have only been here a short period of time, I feel the weight of that.
"We have to get this club out of this league, that is the ultimate [aim]."
Dodds opted not to start either of the club's deadline day signings, with both Jermain Defoe and Jay Matete entering the action from the bench in the final 20 minutes.
He said: "It's a really difficult one.
"The fans wanted JD [Defoe] on but we have a duty of care to him because he has only played nine minutes of football this season.
"His quality is undoubted, but he has not just come in to play for this one game, he has come in to play for the remainder of the season and try to get us out of the league.
"Jay came in this week and he it's a big move for him, he's a young man coming from Fleetwood and you have to weigh up all those factors when you are picking the team.
"The starting XI had more than enough to beat Doncaster, we can't shy away from that."
Dodds opted to play with a back three, with the versatile Carl Winchester operating on the right-hand side of that defensive line.
"I don't want to dwell too much on the past but we felt that at Bolton we were a little bit too open and exposed," he explained.
"We felt that the personnel would allow us to get a little bit more security in the back line, and what Winnie [Winchester] would give us is a shape-change without making a sub and you could see that in the second half when we went to a back four.
"The thought process was that if we needed to change the game tactically, we could do that and we did do that.
"The second goal was a killer for us because you're then chasing the game.
"We'll have to look back at the footage, but my initial gut reaction is that I don't think the two goals were a shape issue."
There was no place in the squad for specialist centre-back Arbenit Xhemajli, but Dodds says there was no injury issue with the defender.
He said: "We decided not to include Arby based on the fact that we had Trai [Hume], who is a defender, on the bench and that we had the shape-change with Winchester in mind.
"We didn't feel that we needed another defender on the bench.
"Arby has been magnificent, he has been working with me with the U23s and he has been a proper pro.
"It was a really tough decision and a really tough conversation for me to have in terms of not picking him in the squad.
"We wanted to have more attacking options with Patrick Roberts there [on the bench].
"It's one of those - you live and die by the sword.
"If you make those attacking options and you get back into the game, everyone thinks you are a genius, but today Arby wasn't on the bench and it will be questioned.
"I'm in the hotseat, so I will take that criticism."
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