FURIOUS Sunderland manager Peter Reid blew his top after the shock 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland winger Kevin Kilbane admitted: "We deserved all we got - we let him down."

The Wearsiders, cruising 2-0 at half time against a side which hadn't managed a single shot at goal, looked all set to notch up their biggest win of the season. But in a complete reversal they saw their hopes of European qualification severely dented as they crashed 3-2 - and were booed off the pitch.

Kilbane, who had put Sunderland ahead in the third minute and thought he had started a rout, said he'd never seen the manager so angry as he was after the third home League defeat of the season.

Now the players will be wondering who will pay for the set-back with their places in the team at Coventry this afternoon.

Kilbane revealed: "At half time the boss asked us to keep playing the way we were - he said we were playing good stuff, we were creating chances and we should keep up the tempo.

"But Spurs changed things round in the second half and we couldn't deal with it - I don't know what went wrong with us. The second half was like chalk and cheese and we were just terrible.

"After the game the manager was as angry as I've seen him - he said a few harsh words and then walked out of the dressing room.

"Without doubt he had a right to be angry - really he didn't need to say anything.

"He walked out in disgust and I think that said it all."

Kilbane admitted: "Scoring the first goal meant a lot to me - I was very, very pleased - and going in 2-0 up at half time things looked rosy for us.

"The way we'd played in the first half I felt we could have gone on to get three or four goals.

"What has happened is a massive, massive disappointment to us all - we let the manager down and we let ourselves down because we didn't continue in the same vein."

Kilbane realises that many observers will now have written off Sunderland's chances of winning a place in Europe after a dismal run of only one win in ten games.

He said: "Now we have to show character, belief in ourselves and finish the season as strongly as possible by trying to win the last five games.

"We are capable of qualifying for Europe - I am sure of that - we have just got to turn our performances around."

Reid, normally protective to his players, was scathing in his criticism afterwards and made it clear that there will be changes at Highfield Road.

He said: "We were a disaster, a shambles - we thought we had won the game and we paid the ultimate penalty.

"I have backed the players over the last couple of months because we have played really well and have been unfortunate at times.

"But I have to say that was a really, really poor 45 minutes, possibly the worst in the six years I have been at the club.

"We just rolled over too easily and at times it was like Billy Smart's Circus out there.

"I don't want to talk about Europe. We have 15 points to play for and we need a performance and a result at Coventry."