AFTER chairman Niall Quinn asked for more vociferous support, midfielder Andy Reid last night made his own attempts to win back the fans by reaffirming that the players care about Sunderland’s struggles.

The angry travelling support at The Hawthorns last Saturday were quick to air their disapproval after the embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of West Brom left Sunderland firmly in a relegation fight.

Quinn warned that further criticism would arrive if an improvement was not seen against Everton this Sunday, and Reid moved to dispel accusations the squad does not care about Sunderland’s plight.

“We were devastated when we walked off the pitch,” he said. “So much so that when I was watching the television on the night and Match of the Day came on, I turned it off. I didn’t want to watch it – any of it.

“When I woke up Sunday morning, the first thing that came into my head was the result and the performance of the day before. I was delighted to be off Sunday because the last thing I wanted to do was come in to training – I didn’t want to play football and talk about it.

“People have an impression that footballers don’t really care. That’s so far from the truth it’s unbelievable. We have pride as footballers and when we don’t perform and get the results we take it to heart. It is a personal thing.”

While there have been occasions this season when Sunderland have impressed, their struggles near the bottom highlights that everything has been far from rosy.

And whenever there has been disappointment, Reid speaks with his ten-year-old daughter, Saoirse, who lives in Ireland, to help cheer him up.

“When I pick up the phone to her it makes things a bit better,” he said. “She helps to keep things in perspective and helps you to get over the initial disappointment.

“But when you wake up you can’t help but think about things. You seem to remember every little bit that happened after a defeat, so you end up analyzing it in your head. But we were back in on Monday and now it’s all about working towards Sunday.”

Monday night’s goalless draw between Newcastle United and Portsmouth has left the Magpies level with Middlesbrough, three points shy of fourth-from-bottom Hull City.

And with Sunderland holding an extra point advantage over Hull with four matches remaining, Reid is satisfied that Sunderland can put the memory of West Brom behind them and come away with topflight status intact.

“It’s important that you don’t feel sorry for yourself after a defeat and that you don’t mope around thinking, ‘here we go again’,” said the 26-year-old.

“The better way to think about it is that we have had a bad result, but we have a great opportunity in front of our own fans to go seven points clear with three matches left.

“Newcastle’s draw was a good result for us. It keeps a good gap in between us and we might have a tough run-in, but so have they.

“When Middlesbrough go to Newcastle, one of them has to take points off the other. I see that as a positive for us. We don’t have to play any of the teams below us.”