SUNDERLAND boss Ricky Sbragia defended his decision to bench striker Kenwyne Jones after watching a toothless display from his side at Upton Park.

Djibril Cisse was left to plough a lone furrow up front and despite a bright opening he was never able to trouble the West Ham defence.

Jones undertook a longhaul flight to represent Trinidad and Tobago in midweek and was only called upon when his side were already 2-0 down.

But Sbragia insists his talisman was in no condition to complete 90 minutes of Premiership action.

“We thought about starting him but he’s had a long travel.

We didn’t see him until late on Friday so there was a problem with his sleeping,”

said Sbragia “He didn’t sleep well last night so that was a massive concern to us.

“We need everyone out there to be working hard and if he hasn’t slept right for two days then he can’t do that.

“It was hard work out there. West Ham are a good team – they made the pitch very big.

“We did well from corners and they were threatening early on. Maybe Kenwyne could have helped us there but you can’t have him on just for corners.

“We brought Carlos Edwards on to maybe give us a little width but when you’re 2-0 up you tend to control the game and West Ham did that.

“We had a few half-chances and a few long-range shots but their goalkeeper will deal with those comfortably.”

Sbragia’s side are without a win since defeating Stoke at home on February 7.

They have since fallen to Liverpool, Man City, Wigan and West Ham to slip to 17th in the Premier League with Manchester United next weekend and Chelsea waiting on the final day.

Even if Sunderland manage to survive this season, Sbragia insists it’s back to the drawing board for next term.

“For all people think we have a lot of Premiership experience, we don’t really. I know we brought in some more experienced players last summer, but we still lack experience in vital positions,”

he added.

“I think we’ve been caught a few times as a result, such as against Spurs the other week when we were trying to protect a one-goal lead in the last minute, but couldn’t do it. We need people with a bit more presence in general – not just physical presence.”

“We don’t have great leaders and communicators out there. It is a problem and it’s something I want to sort out in the summer.

“We need someone. We need to change things for next season because at the moment, as a team, we are too quiet.”