Tony Mowbray has criticised the officials for missing a 'blatant handball' which gave Stoke City the lead on Saturday, although he did admit that Sunderland weren't at their best and need to learn from these difficult games.
PROBABLY DESERVED A DRAW
"We talked about being ready for the physical confrontation that was coming today, and I think we fell a little bit short in that aspect. Other parts of the game were good at times, I think we created enough chances not to lose the match."
FIRST GOAL
"If I'm honest, we did fall below par for the way we play and what we do. That's not the goals, though the first goal looks like a blatant handball. The fourth official explained that they felt it wasn't because of where it struck him, I looked at the screen in our dugout and to me it looks as if it strikes him well below the line."
SECOND GOAL
"It's then frustrating for any team to concede from a corner. A frustrating day, we didn't start either half well enough and it's almost as if we needed a slap to react to the fight."
EXCUSES
"Are there excuses? Not really, though we only had one session with the team we played today. Friday was very difficult in terms of trying to train with the storm, though I'm sure that would have been the same for both teams. So I can understand why we weren't at our fluid best today, and credit to Stoke City."
YOUNG TEAM STILL LEARNING
"This is a young team, we've got young players and coming here is never easy for a young football team. They have to learn as they go about the intensity and the aggression, that the closing down is all part of the game. You either stand up to it and play through it and around it, or you will succumb to it."
LACK OF EARLY BRAVERY
"I think early on we weren't brave enough and lost a goal at the start of each half. We then grew into each half, they were maybe hanging on a bit at the end. Should we have scored, could we have scored? Yeah maybe, but we didn't. So we have to live with the result."
