THE manner of the four goals Sunderland conceded at Southampton infuriated Mike Dodds but the interim head coach says he can't question the effort or mentality of his players, despite his side's losing run stretching to six games.
Southampton were dominant in the first half and led 2-0 at the break before Sunderland launched an unlikely second half comeback and drew level - only to then concede two quickfire goals, both scored by substitute Joe Rothwell.
Despite the home side's first half dominance, Dodds claimed Sunderland went "toe to toe with Southampton for large periods" but said his players let themselves down with their defending for Southampton's goals.
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"The four goals are avoidable goals so that's a real disappointment from my perspective," he said.
"Nothing really changed from a tactical perspective from first half to second half, the difference was that we were more aggressive and that's the frustration that I have.
"I want to try and spin a load of positives in that we've come up against two really high-quality teams against Leicester and Southampton and for large periods gone toe to toe with them, but we need to do that consistently and we also need to make sure that we get results. I am frustrated but I do see a group that is really trying, it just feels like things aren't falling for us.
"The first half, there were pockets and moments where someone didn't commit to the press or an element of the game plan, and when you play against a team of their quality you can't have that. My biggest disappointment in the first half was our quality with the ball, we didn't have enough quality in terms of retaining it.
"From a technical perspective and an individual perspective, I thought we gave them the ball back too easily whereas in the second half we had more energy and quality - and it was that which gave us a foothold in the game.
"It's been labelled at the group in the past in terms of the inconsistency, for me today the frustration is with what we did technically in possession rather than it being about the mentality out of possession."
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