O'Neill admits 'dose of reality'

Manager Martin O'Neill believes Sunderland's setback against West Brom may serve as a reality check for his side.

Sunderland boss hoping for improvement in next week's derby

Manager Martin O'Neill believes Sunderland's setback against West Brom may serve as a reality check for his side. The Black Cats had picked up 22 points from their first 11 games under O'Neill ahead of their 4-0 thrashing at The Hawthorns on Saturday. The manager hopes Sunderland can take lessons from the defeat ahead of next weekend's Tyne-Wear derby at Newcastle. And he believes a disappointing result might work in their favour in terms of keeping the players grounded.

Reality

He said: "Of course, this sort of defeat can happen to the very best of teams - and we are not the very best of teams so far. We have to work exceptionally hard for everything we get. "There has been nothing easy, certainly since I arrived at the club, and I don't expect it to be. You just don't get things handed to you. "I want the club to have expectations, that is the whole point. We shouldn't shy away from it. "Maybe a dose of reality might help occasionally but the club is big enough to have dreams and aspirations and wanting to do things. "What we have to do is try and digest this game and see where we can improve. Maybe we will turn up next time."