Premier League: Sunderland's Billy Jones rues missed chance

Billy Jones is frustrated that Sunderland have not put some serious distance between themselves and the relegation places.

The 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Sunday, where the home side played for 40 minutes with 10 men, came 48 hours after they lost 3-1 to Hull City, and rendered the recent 1-0 derby win at Newcastle a distant memory.

Jones told the Sunderland Echo: "It could easily have been two wins, and that would have made it three wins on the bounce after Newcastle.   

"When Villa went down to 10 men, we saw how we need to improve in the final third - create more chances and take more chances.

"At times, we looked a bit vulnerable because we were so gung ho. But we feel it's two points lost. The gaffer knows how disappointed we are as a collective.

"I don't think he felt the need to rant and rave afterwards. It was just a general discussion."

Jones played against Hull and Villa after overcoming hamstring problems and is relieved to have put his injury problems behind him.

"Every time it happens, and unfortunately for me it's happened a few times over the last year, there's always a big inquest," he added.

"You have a chat about it and you want to get to the bottom of it. One of the things (former club) West Brom had talked about was seeing this particular specialist.

"The Sunderland staff thought there was a need for it as well, and I had a number of injections into the nerve. In my eyes, it's worked to play two games in three days. To be honest, I knew personally that the last one was the worst one I had."

Sunderland, who are four points clear of Crystal Palace in 18th, travel to Manchester City on New Year's Day.