Kilbane gives fans V-sign

Two managed to intrude on to the pitch on Saturday night, one getting perilously close to Reid and the Sunderland bench, forcing the referee to remove the players and suspend play for eight minutes.

Defiant Reid, who is determined to silence his critics, now takes his players to Spain this week for their final warmup games.

And Kilbane, who has endured almost two years of abuse from his own supporters, will be part of the travelling party to Marbella after his contrite apology.

He said: 'I want to offer my sincere apologies to the supporters. They travel a long way to the games and spend their cash and I deeply regret what I did.

'It was a moment of frustration and things just got the better of me. It was my first game back, I was tired and things just boiled over.

'I am devastated by the whole thing because it is always my aim when I go on the pitch to try my best for the supporters. I just want to give my all, which is what I have always tried to do, and what I will do in the future.' Although Kilbane will be fined a weeks' wages following the incident, Reid and captain Michael Gray have leapt to his defence.

Reid said: 'You cannot react the way Kevin did, but he is a model pro, a sincere fella and he has just made a mistake.'

Gray added: 'Kevin could not be more popular in the dressing room and we all see his ability on the training pitch. He has just struggled to produce for the first team.

'He knows what he did during this game was wrong, but the frustration just got to him. I ask the fans to stick with him because he has a lot to produce for the club, and we will never see it if they get on his back.

' He has apologised and, hopefully, he will get the chance to put this behind him.'

Individual errors from goalkeeper Thomas Myhre, on his debut, and joint record signing Emerson Thome gifted Genk a two-goal lead before young Scottish striker Kevin Kyle's last-minute consolation goal.

Striker Kevin Phillips, still recovering from a hip injury, managed to play for an hour.