TRAI Hume admits Sunderland attempts to deal with Dan Neil's red card against Middlesbrough backfired - but said the Black Cats will quickly shift their attention and will return after the international break desperate to kickstart another winning charge.

Sunderland had won five of their last six games ahead of Saturday's Wear-Tees derby but their hopes of extending that run took a major hit when Neil was sent off on the stroke of half-time.

Hume says the red card "killed" the game, though admits the half-time tactical rethink that followed the sending off didn't work as hoped. After Neil was sent off for dissent - a decision Tony Mowbray described as "ridiculous" - Hume is calling for more consistency from officials.

"I thought in the first half it was an even game until the sending off which kind of kills it," he says.

"Some referees you can talk to and some referees don’t so they need to find that balance because we want to talk to them and ask why was that not a foul, why was this given? But some of them don’t speak to you.

"Obviously you saw that today with Dan trying to speak to the ref and showed him a yellow card and then a red straight after. They just need to find that balance really.

"We’ve come out in the second half with a different shape, have tried to go five at the back and protect what we have and try to hit them on the counter which didn’t really go to plan."

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With Neil missing in the second half, Sunderland lacked steel in the midfield.

Hume said: "Especially in recent weeks I think he’s been one of our best players in the team. His performances have been outstanding all season and losing him in that midfield he has a lot of experience as well.

"To lose that experience against a good team like them is tough."

Hume is now heading away on international break with Northern Ireland but is already relishing the return to Championship action when Sunderland head for Alex Neil's Stoke looking to get back on track.

He said: "Saturday was tough to take. We obviously went into the game thinking we would get three points, obviously that hasn’t happened but we’ll come back after the international break against Stoke and try to get on a good run of form again."