O’Neill: ‘I felt the performance was fantastic’

Martin O’Neill couldn’t fault his troops following a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea this afternoon after a battling display.

The Black Cats went down to a 13th minute strike from Frank Lampard after Fernando Torres cracked the bar with a scissor kick.

Speaking to The Official Site afterwords, O’Neill said:

‘I’m desperately disappointed as I felt the performance was fantastic – particularly the second half.

‘How we haven’t come away with something really defies belief.’

O’Neill continued:

‘Of course it’s always going to be an uphill battle if you fail to convert chances, especially as we created a number of opportunities.

‘I thought that we performed terrifically well. You can’t create chances like we had against a top-class side without having shown some sort of ability.’

Sunderland host Swansea City at the Stadium of Light next weekend.