Granit Xhaka responded on Instagram after Sunderland’s 5-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, urging a strong reaction

Granit Xhaka has issued a social media message to Sunderland supporters following the club’s heavy 5-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The Black Cats endured a difficult afternoon at the Stadium of Light, finding themselves 4-0 down at half-time after a damaging first-half display, before Elliott Anderson added a fifth in stoppage time to complete the rout.

Taking to Instagram after the game, Xhaka acknowledged the scale of the setback while calling for a response. “That one hurt a lot. We know it’s never acceptable to lose like that,” he wrote. “Big week of training ahead! Let’s make the right response next weekend.”

Speaking to Sunderland’s in-house media team after the game, Xhaka added: "It's very tough, it's difficult to find the right words now, and the only word I can say is just to apologise to the fans "What they saw today is not the team they saw all season. It is part of our journey, part of how we can improve as a team, individually as well as a collective. Hopefully, this will not happen again.

"We have to reflect and look in the mirror, to analyse and say that was not good enough, and to remember where we've come from. It's painful, we need to come back stronger and give the fans what we have given them all season. We have to react.

"The goals we've conceded today are too easy. We haven't done the basics right, and if you don't do that in this league, you get punished. We got punished so quick in that first half, and at 4-0, you need a lot of luck and things to come back. We tried, but it was not enough today.”

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The Sunderland captain concluded: “ The season is a marathon, not a sprint. Of course, we’ve had a very good season so far, but we always knew it would be a journey. There will be ups and downs, no doubt, but it’s about how we react now.”

Sunderland are next in action against Wolves away from home this coming Saturday in the Premier League, with Régis Le Bris’ men hoping to return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats.

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