Bolton's 4-1 trouncing of the Black Cats brought up Keane's 100th game in charge of the club in the worst possible way and he admitted afterwards that it is down to him to sort it out.

The Sunderland boss said: "I'm not mad at the individuals who made the mistakes that led to some of Bolton's goals, because I look at the likes of Danny Collins and Dean Whitehead and what they've done for the club over the last couple of years and I can't be mad at them.

"You can't legislate for individual mistakes in the game and Danny Collins and Dean Whitehead have been outstanding for me over the last couple of years.

"But I am very concerned that the players are lacking a little bit of confidence at the moment.

"I've said many times before if teams open you up and score great goals against you then you hold your hands up, but we caused our own problems in this game.

"The goals we gave away were very poor.

"We had some decent spells and half-chances, but giving goals away like we have done makes it impossible to win matches.

"If we are guilty of anything, it is of being very naive in the way we play – we encourage the players to play football, but we are overplaying at the back and we've paid the price for that."

Having watched his side implode, Keane said he would look at exactly what went wrong during the week and how things could be put right for this Saturday's trip to Manchester United.

But he said the person who had to be most directly culpable for the club's slip in form in recent weeks had to be himself.

He said: "There can be lots of reasons involved when it comes to what went wrong and I have to look at things from the very beginning – things like the way we set up.

"We play with two strikers up front, for example – not many teams do these days – and if they're not at it from the start then it can cost you.

"So it is a question of looking at every aspect of our game – we are constantly looking at areas where we can do better.

"But we are all humans and we are all disappointed – I understand the fans' frustrations.

"We said the table would take shape after eight, nine or 10 games and when you look at it, we are where we are – it's not good enough.

"I can't sit here after being beaten 4-1 and say I'm happy.

"We play with such innocence and we seem to get punished for every mistake we make in the Premiership, but that's why the Premiership is so brilliant.

"Football is the best thing in the world when you're doing well and winning matches, but it's a lot different when it's not going your way.

"What we have do now is to look to characters in the side coming to the fore as they have done in the past, but I am the manager of the football club and ultimately I am responsible.

"I will not shy away from that.

"I'm not a quitter – I don't think anyone who has played alongside me or worked with me would say I was. I don't get bogged down by the table because it can all change so quickly but there's no getting away from the fact that we are on a bad run.

"We've got good players, but it's the responsibility of the manager to make them into a good team. I look at the team and I think we're almost there.

"The results aren't good, though, and it's the same in any walk of life – if a department isn't working, you look at the manager.

"That's what I'll have done over the weekend.

"I can't blame the players. You have to look at the manager. It's his job to get good results.

"We are coming up short at this moment in time and I accept responsibility for that."