Wes Brown admits Sunderland lost cool against Aston Villa

Wes Brown admitted that Sunderland’s players’ 'heads went' after going 3-0 down to Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light.

Villa went on to make it 4-0 before half-time and that was the way it stayed as the Black Cats were drawn right into the depths of a relegation battle.

A close contest between the two struggling teams was expected but that forecast could not have been further from the truth as Tim Sherwood’s side ran amok in the first half, leading to fury among the home supporters.

“Very disappointing. 4-0 at half-time, it’s very difficult to come back from there,” said a clearly still shocked Brown. “The first half – if we play like that then there’s no way we can get back in the game really.

“They were passing it well, playing well and managed to get a couple of goals. We’re still in it and from there once they get the third one our heads went, then they got the fourth.

“The second half was better but 4-0 at half-time… difficult. We’re all going to have to stick together and make sure it doesn’t happen and that we all give 100 per cent next game. We need to play better at home."

Having been embroiled in a relegation dogfight last season, the centre-back is keen to avoid that prospect again come the final few games of the campaign, but acknowledged that the reality may be another tense finale.

“It’s creeping up again, we’ll train hard and be ready for the next game,” he added.