Sunderland boss delivers verdict on what went wrong at Luton Town - and why he's proud of his squad

Tony Mowbray said he was proud of his young Sunderland squad after their campaign ended with play-off heartache at Luton Town.

Sunderland's raft of injuries eventually caught up with them as the hosts scored two first-half goals, both from a corner, to book their place in next Saturday's Wembley final.

Mowbray's side have played much of the campaign without a recognised centre forward, and have also had to deal with the loss of captain Corry Evans and the vast majority of their central defenders over the final weeks of the season.

The head coach was left with few regrets as Luton ruthlessly exploited those weaknesses, and told his players he was proud of their efforts over the course of the season

"We've all had a chat and we all understand [what happened]," Mowbray said.

"I think it'll be good for them [in the long run], I had a 19-year career in football and you have good days and you have bad days. You have to learn from them, and hopefully there's not too many of the bad ones for this football club.

"We're all disappointed.

"We knew what was coming, they were very direct. They scored from set plays and there was always the potential of that. It's frustrating that we didn't score because even without our main striker, we've always felt that we can score.

"I think it's credit to them [that we struggled], they play with a huge intensity on a tight pitch and with the crowd right behind them. It's hard to keep them off your backs, they play far from their own goal. They won a lot of duels in midfield, we tried to compete but they're a big, strong physical team with a lot of athleticism.

"We're frustrated but I'm very proud of the players, the supporters and the city of Sunderland - we'll get stronger and we'll be back next season. These players give everything they've got, we're without some major attributes and assets because of the injury situation, there were potentially eight players there who might have started. Most of them are 6ft 4 who could have helped us deal with their threat.

"I'm very proud of the lads, we've won plenty of games this year."