In football as Black Cats relegated

defeats, winning only five of their games so far, Moyes refused to point the finger of blame at individuals. And he insisted he couldn’t have asked much more from his shattered stars. “The players played as well as they could do and there is no criticism of them, of their effort and of their commitment,” he said. “It’s not any one person, it’s a collective thing here and I don’t think any one person is bigger than a club, anyway. “From top to bottom we all need to look at ourselves. I thought the players fought right until the end to get a result today. “I’ve said near enough from the start I know what a Premier League team and s quad looks like and I’ve felt we have been short of a bit of quality to make that difference.

“The performance won’t get any headlines because in a way it doesn’t matter. It’s the result and what has happened to us.

“But we had four or five decent chances and played well. We had nine out injured, one suspended and we had to change things.”

Skipper John O’Shea said: “We had enough chances to take the lead and we were pushing at the end to get that goal. But then they

killed us with the breakaway goal. You can understand the disappointment.

“We never got the momentum. We haven’t got that win at the vital times to put other teams under pressure.

“The attitude will always be the togetherness of a family club.

“There’s going to be changes in the summer. I’ve never been in this situation before in my career.

“It’s obviously disappointing but it’s a chance for the club to take stock of everything and bounce back and give the fans what they want, Premier League football.”

Owner Ellis Short added: “My initial reaction is one of sadness, disappointment, anger and frustration.

“After 10 consecutive seasons as a top-flight club, the second-longest in our 138-year history, it is hard for everyone to take.’’