Sunderland boss reflects on lessons learned from Burnley defeat and reveals post-match message for players

The Black Cats produced an outstanding first half against Vincent Kompany's side, but conceded three goals in 20 minutes after the break. Mowbray felt his side went into 'protection mode' rather than continuing to implement the game plan that brought them so much joy before the interval, but was quick to praise the quality that Burnley produced.

He candidly admitted that his inexperienced side had not managed the game well and while insistent that they would not use that inexperience as an excuse, he said there was much for him and his coaching staff to work on.

"We've got to give some credit, Burnley were in the Premier League last year and we finished fifth in League One," he said. "Burnley were playing Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs etc. They've got good players, a good team and a coach who has learnt off probably the best manager we have seen.

"I don't want to be too harsh on the team. To be honest in there [the dressing room] I have been pretty harsh but that's for in there, not in here [the press conference]. We have shown in the first half that we're a team who can compete with just about anyone in this league, and the second half is disappointing. We won't hide from that or find excuses from that, we hope that it's a learning curve for us. They've scored some good quality goals, but of course we're disappointed.

"We have to be more aggressive when their wide attackers flip inside, stop the shot and stop the cross. That was my main argument with the team really: Our intensity dropped and when you do that with real good-quality footballers, it's a problem.

"That's a lesson for us - we have to sustain it for longer, we should have dealt with it better. There's nothing wrong with playing a few long balls at 2-0 up, to turn the opposition and try and make them pass it through you for 80 yards.

"I feel as if it's just a learning curve for us a team. You can still keep a high line and counter-attack - it's just that it's a new team and we're learning, it's something that we haven't been faced with in recent weeks. It's a new phase of the game that we can work on in training in the next few weeks. It has given me food for thought; things to work on.

"My first words at half time were that I can feel their threat, good players jump out at you. It's done, we have to move on, we're frustrated and we're hugely disappointed for the 40,000 who turned up for us today. We are doing everything we can and hopefully they think that if we can reproduce the first half in longer spells, there's a team here that we can proud of."