Michael Beale sends strong message to Sunderland players after dismal Newcastle United defeat

Michael Beale admits he and his Sunderland players are left with a sense of regret about it long it took them to make an impact in Saturday's heavy defeat to Newcastle United.

Sunderland fell behind shortly before half time through a Dan Ballard own goal and struggled to create any chances. Alexander Isak then scored within minutes of the interval, and added a penalty in stoppage time to end what has been a miserable week for the club.The Black Cats barely ventured into the Newcastle United half until after they had fallen 2-0 behind, and Beale said his players had to be honest with themselves about the gap that had shown between the two sides.

"The first half for the most part we defended OK but in possession we weren't tidy enough, we didn't show enough quality to show throw any punches," Beale said.

"We went in at half time and talked about being bold, made a couple of changes to get people higher up the pitch and bring the back four higher - and then we have the worst possible start and that's clear for everyone to see.

"After that, we started to get into some interesting areas and if we had scored I think the fans would have done the rest for us because we they were fantastic. Then the third goal is really poor. There was a gap between to the two teams when we arrived today, my young team tried to close it but weren't able to. They have to be really honest with themselves about today, because then I think we can improve and we can use in the Championship. The big thing is about being honest and not hiding away from the fact that there is a gap.

Beale said there were '100%' regrets about how his side had struggled to make an impact and said it was a lesson for many of his players with Premier League aspirations about the levels they need to hit consistently if they are to go on and thrive at that level.

"100% and we have to be honest about why that is," Beale said.

"I've given an idea, I think Newcastle under Eddie at their best are super aggressive in their press, they counter on you quickly and that was part of the game. It's made them a Champions League team, the resistance my team faced was the highest they've seen and I think things got really real in our young team. We need to use that and go to work - I expect the level in training to go up because there's no ignorance about the level. If individuals felt they were close to being at that level regularly, then today is a bit of an eye opener. Now we need to good to work, I'm super optimistic that if we're honest and use it, we can make big strides super quickly."

Sunderland return to action next Saturday with a challenging trip to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town.