Sunderland fell to a disappointing defeat at Craven Cottage following Raul Jimenez’s late goal

Trai Hume has expressed his frustration with the free kick that led to Fulham’s winning goal at Craven Cottage on Saturday, but admitted that Sunderland could have no complaints with the final result.

Sunderland were left furious when the referee blew for a foul just inside their half, which Fulham then took quickly. Substitute Samuel Chukwueze crossed into the box for striker Raul Jimenez to score, with Sunderland unable to muster a response in the closing minutes of the game.

Hume said the dressing room was frustrated with the officiating throughout the game but added that there were no excuses when it came to the final result. Sunderland are back in action when Bournemouth visit the Stadium of Light next Saturday and the defender is expecting a response from the team.

"I think overall, we know we can be better throughout the whole 90 minutes," Hume said.

"They created a lot of chances, the kind of chances that we don't usually give away. I think we know we can better so we have to go again next Saturday. It's disappointing to concede how we did, personally I think the free kick that was given was not a free kick. That's offset us, they've taken it quickly, it's a great ball in and the striker has got a foot to it. We're disappointed but if we're being honest, they had a lot of chances and if you give that many away, you're probably to concede one. I thought the decisions were soft throughout the game, which is not a reason or an excuse for the result, we know we can be better and you can't give that many chances away in the Premier League. We know we can better than that so we'll watch it back, analyse it, train hard this week and get ready to go again."

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"We're disappointed and angry, that's what we are as a team we're disappointed we didn't get three points or at least a draw," he added.

"Especially with a late goal, we feel we've given it away. It was one of those days for us."

What Régis Le Bris said about Sunderland’s performance at Fulham

“It's a good reminder about our basics, if you don't win many duels, if you don't win the second balls, it's not possible to impose something," Le Bris said.

“We struggled to create, we struggled today to manage for example when they went long our man from our press we were not efficient, the intention was really positive, we wanted to impose something defensively but we were not good enough to manage the duels so we had to defend probably around our box just after, probably too often and second balls after their long play as well, so basics are really important in football and if you don't win this part, at least 50-50, you can't impose anything.

"I think it's another good lesson, we have to be at our best, otherwise the opponent can exploit their strength."

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