The Black Cats' chief was in no doubt that the two villains of the piece in a dramatic game at Fratton Park were his two red-carded midfielders.

And not even referee Kevin Friend - who red-carded three players, played 12 minutes added time and was harangued by Avram Grant at the end of the first-half and Bruce at the end of the second – received as much criticism from the Sunderland manager as his two errant players.

"I'm not going to have a go at the referee," said Bruce.

"I was surprised at where he got six minutes from at the end of the second half and spoke to him about that at the end of the game, but I thought he got most of the big decisions right.

"He was absolutely correct to award us the penalty and send their player off. There's no doubt about that.

"And I've got no arguments about our sendings off either – I can't defend either player.

"The two of them, the two sendings-off, for me, are stupid.

"Even if, in Lee Cattermole's case, it's debatable whether he got the ball when he got his second booking – and he was convinced he did get the ball – it's irrelevant.

"Referees are under enormous pressure in matches and at Portsmouth the home crowd are right on top of you and create an intense atmosphere.

"On top of that, the referee's been brave enough to send off their
player and award us a penalty early on and the situation becomes more emotionally charged when Avram goes out to have a word with the referee at the end of the first 45 minutes and gets himself sent off.

"So we said to the players at half-time: 'Don't give the referee a decision to make'. We were clear on that.

"We were 11 men against 10 and it was important to keep our discipline and not put the referee in that position.

"In the end, it cost us the match. I've made it pretty clear to them what I think.

"They have to learn because they have cost us."

The Sunderland manager's mood was grim, his face grey, as he held the most perfunctory of Press conferences; pain and strain etched across his face.

He did not dodge either the conference or the questions, but no-one seemed to have the heart to grill Bruce over a result which was clearly agony for him.

Everyone seemed happy just to let him fulfil his basic media duties and get the hell out of Fratton Park as quickly as possible.

But one can't imagine it was the most pleasant of flights home for him or his players last night.

Bruce must have turned every incident over in his mind over and over again and he would have been seething.

"I think that's now four games we've gone with less than a minute or two to go when we've been leading and we've been pegged back," he added.

"Am I shattered by it? I think that's an understatement.

"We should have been comfortable.

"The longer the game goes when you've got a man advantage, the more comfortable you should be.

"But even when it was reduced to 10 against 10, we had the best chances and we didn't put them away.

"So to get done in the last 10 seconds again, like we did at the Stadium of Light, is tough to take.

"The one thing we needed to do was hang on.

"It becomes a bit of a confidence thing but we should have done better on the night with all the advantages we've had."