Sunderland midfielder Enzo Le Fée apologised to fans after a heavy defeat to Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light

Enzo Le Fée issued an apology to Sunderland supporters following the club’s heavy defeat to Nottingham Forest, admitting the performance fell well short of the standards expected at the Stadium of Light.

Forest strengthened their Premier League survival hopes with a commanding win on Wearside, moving onto 39 points and opening up a significant gap to the bottom three.

The visitors took control in the first half, with Igor Jesus’ header deflecting in off Trai Hume to break the deadlock, before Chris Wood capitalised on a Sunderland error to double the lead. Morgan Gibbs-White added a third soon after, with Jesus grabbing his second before the break. Elliot Anderson completed the scoring late on to cap a difficult night for the hosts.

Speaking after the game, Le Fée did not shy away from the result or the manner of the performance. “You cannot say something, but just sorry,” he said. “Because it wasn't us today. It wasn't Sunderland. And like I said, I hope we're going to prepare the game properly. And we're going to fight for them.”

The defeat came just days after Sunderland’s dramatic loss at Aston Villa, where Régis Le Bris’ side had shown resilience to recover from 3-1 down to level at 3-3 before eventually being beaten 4-3. There was no repeat of that response this time, however, with the game effectively over by half-time.

“Really difficult,” Le Fée said. “But like I said before, we've got to play football because we can react quickly in one week. Now it's too late to speak, to try something. We started the game too late, half-time it's finished. When you play in this league, 4-0 down at half-time, you can't expect something more. Tomorrow we're going to prepare for the game at Wolves because it will be a tough game as well.”

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Reflecting on the contrast with the fightback at Villa Park, he added: “Yeah, because I think four nil down is different than three nil one. But even before the reaction at Villa, it was a bit the same than tonight. The difference is we didn't get the reaction. I think it's something really bad when you play at home. You cannot expect something if you play like this.”

Le Fée also pointed to Forest’s motivation as a decisive factor on the night. “I think tonight there was one team who was playing their place in the Premier League,” he said. “It was one team who just played a good football game, and we can feel the difference. Even if you play against a team who are at the bottom, even if they were in good form, they can destroy you. So, it was the case.”

Sunderland face a demanding end to the season, starting away at Wolves before hosting Manchester United at the Stadium of Light. Trips to Everton follow, ahead of a final-day clash against Chelsea on Wearside, with little room for error as Le Bris’ side look to finish strongly.

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