Sunderland are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat when they face Burnley on Monday

Chemsdine Talbi has urged Sunderland to stick together after their disappointing defeat at West Ham United last Saturday.

The Black Cats went 3-0 down at the London Stadium in the first half, with Talbi one of three substitutions made by Régis Le Bris at the interval. Sunderland did improve after the break, with Brian Brobbey scoring to reduce the arrears. The Moroccan winger says Sunderland were punished for a lack of intensity.

"It was tough but we showed a better second half, we brought intensity that we needed to bring to the first half," Talbi said.

"This is the Premier League, you will have bad moments so we need to stick together and fight again for victory in the next game. We needed to be better than the first half, it was not enough and everybody knows that. We knew in the second half we needed to bring intensity and we did that.

"It's the best league world so any little moment where you lose focus or intensity, you will pay for it. On Saturday we paid for it. So we need to stick together and keep fighting.

I think we are still playing a great season, I don't think anyone thought we would get as high as we have. But it's still not finished, and so we need to continue."

Talbi was making his first appearance since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, where Morocco were beaten by Habib Diarra's Senegal in a hugely controversial final. The winger said he maintained a strong relationship with the midfielder and proud to have taken his first steps in tournament football.

Talbi said: "It was a great experience, my first competition with my country. So I was really proud, unfortunately it didn't go as we had hoped in the end but I'm still proud of my country and now happy to be back.

"My relationship with Habib is still good, of course. He's my friend, we came to the club at the same time and nothing will change. I'm happy to see him back here with us."

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Luke O’Nien: Sunderland will learn from West Ham United defeat

Speaking after the defeat, O’Nien said: “Perspective is always key in football. Instead of just looking at the game in isolation, we have to look at the whole season. But we won't just throw this under the rug and say it didn't happen, you have to learn from your failures. We spent three or four years in League One, that's why we're having the success we are now.

“Games like this are failures from the outside but it's games like this that will make us successful.

“We'll pull them apart, work out why we're so far away from out identity and put it right. If you win, you don't need to do that. These games are really important for the football club individually and collectively. And we'll always maintain perspective. We're in a hell of a position. We worked very hard, we've competed with every team this season other than maybe two games.”

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