The Black Cats slumped to a dismal 4-1 home Premier League defeat to Bolton on Saturday to slip back into the relegation zone – with boos ringing around the Stadium of Light.

Bardsley, who was switched to left-back to accommodate the return of fellow full-back Pascal Chimbonda, said: "The fans are disappointed, but we need them to get behind us.

"I know we've lost games at home, but we need them to be behind us and not to boo us.

"When the going gets tough, you need everybody – not just the players.

"We need the fans more than ever. We can't afford to have them booing us every time we get beaten.

"Everyone's trying to do their best and booing them is not going to make things better.

"At this moment, luck's not with us."

Bardsley, who will now head back to former club Manchester United for this weekend's match, added: "We killed ourselves with our own mistakes. After we went one up, we took our foot off the gas a little bit and we got punished.

"It's so disappointing because we got off to a good start. We have to bounce back quickly.

"At 2-1, we had a goal disallowed which should never have been disallowed. The decision went against us, but there's no room for making excuses – we've got to start picking points up.

"We tried to do things the right way – we always try to play, that's what we've been taught by the manager and the coaching staff. That'll never change."

Individual errors cost Sunderland dearly, but Bardsley insisted: "We're not pointing fingers at anybody because we're all honest enough lads to hold our hands up when we've made mistakes."