Murray and Reid stick together

But the pair have a tough fight on their hands to win back the disgruntled Sunderland faithful, who turned out to see an unsatisfactory performance from the side Reid fielded.

The defeat means another trophyless season for Sunderland, whose last major success came in this competition 29 years ago. It also means that the only arena for improvement and success now is the League, where they have shown signs of losing their way so far this season.

The most worrying aspect of their slump is that those responsible for it appear to be running out of answers.

Reid is a resilient and determined individual who will work hard to find them and he will accept no shirkers in the process.

He said: ' We huffed and puffed, and we didn't have enough to break them down. We were caught with the classic sucker punch and could not handle Jason Roberts.

'This is a time of disappointment when we need to get together. It will be difficult, but we need to stand up, work hard and turn the season round in the League. We can't do anything else.

'I have felt lower than this, but I am certainly not a happy chappie. But we will work to get it right.'

Kevin Kilbane and Danny Dichio, who both played bit parts against their former clubs, have had to fight for the right to be liked at the Stadium of Light and know how hard it is to please a demanding audience. Both believe Reid can do it. Kilbane said: 'This is a kick up the backside and we have to give our supporters something to cheer. We haven't played well over the whole season and despite a few decent performances, we just can't put a run together.

'But there has always been a strong team spirit here and we'll get through it.'

Albion's Dichio said: 'I know Peter Reid well. He has been through worse than this and he will succeed again.'

Dichio ' s own muted celebrations were matched by his manager and teammates, who are keener to concentrate on their primary ambition to win promotion to the Premiership.

Manager Gary Megson kept photographers out of his dressing room, but his side deserve every credit for their endeavours.

They recovered from Kevin Phillips' outstanding overhead kick to launch a great comeback as Derek McInnes' drive smashed into the bar and Adam Chambers' header hit Thomas Sorensen's upright. But Neil Clement made no mistake from the penalty spot after Stanislav Varga had tripped a lively Roberts.

Roberts, starting only his third game of the season after a fractured foot, terrorised the Sunderland back line throughout and led to Darren Williams' demise and substitution. And it was inevitable he would play a part in the winner, supplying the cross for Andy Johnson to head home after his nifty footwork had embarrassed Bernt Haas.