Tony Mowbray has apologised to Sunderland fans after they saw his side 'at their worst' as they fell apart in the second half against Stoke City. The Black Cats were crushed 5-1 at the Stadium of Light, as ex-Sunderland boss Alex Neil enjoyed a winning return to Wearside.
Defeat by a four-goal margin equalled Sunderland's heaviest defeat at the Stadium of Light, and thousands of the 43,000 fans at the game headed for the exits long before full-time. "It's hard for the team to take, it's hard for the supporters, for the club," said Mowbray.
"It was difficult to forsee it, I would suggest, because this team hasn't lost a game by more than two goals since I've been here. We're a team that tries to play possession football and Stoke are a team that tries to nick it off you and break on you, and they obviously did that better than we did what we normally do.
