Alex Neil blames Sunderland 'naivety' for Burton's goal, and says lack of quality let them down

Alex Neil branded his Sunderland side as 'naive' for the way they conceded against Burton Albion.

The Black Cats boss saw his side snatch a point with an injury-time equaliser from Ross Stewart, but there was no hiding his disappointment in the performance.

Neil is still waiting for his first win since taking charge, having overseen two draws and a defeat so far.

"We changed the shape and had an extra defender at the back behind the ball to make sure we didn't get countered on, but we still got countered on," he said.

"That was extremely frustrating because you're hoping that by putting that extra number there, you can safeguard against that.

"Some of our decision-making and some of our quality tonight really let us down.

"In the first 30 minutes the balance of our play was good, but then one moment changed the momentum of the game - their striker took the ball, turned it round the corner, they got in behind us and apart from the lad's poor touch it could have been a real problem for us.

"That changed the momentum completely.

"I don't know whether it is the youthfulness in the squad, I don't know if it is not coping with those moments, but we just don't react well.

"It's frustrating because we probably had ten moments and they had one, and it was their one that changed the trajectory of the match.

"Their goal summed it up. We collected the ball, punted it up, we had five-vs-three in our own half and within two passes they got a strike at our goal.

"It's absolute naivete, and it's something we have to improve.

"We don't do the basics well enough, it really is as simple as that.

"If we can do the basics better, we will give ourselves an opportunity and a chance."

Neil has said several times since taking over that the