New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick saddened by cheating allegations

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has hit back at new claims that his side have broken NFL rules under his tenure.

Reports were released by ESPN and Sports Illustrated suggesting that the Patriots violated a number of rules to gain a competitive advantage in their matches, which included stealing playsheets from their opponents' locker room and the taping of practices.

However, Belichick believes that the reports are driven by an agenda against his team and have no merit.

He told reporters: "I think overall it's kind of sad, really, to see some stories written that obviously have an agenda to them with misinformation, anonymous comments. Writing about warm drinks and trashcans, stuff like that. I think it's a sad commentary and really, gone to a pretty low level. Sunk pretty deep.

"First of all, I would say I think our program here is built on competition and trying to improve every day. It's not built on excuses. We just try to go to work and improve and find a way to get better."

"All the great players that played on those teams to take away what those teams accomplished it's just not right. I'm not going to get in a back-and-forth, but that's just how I feel about it."

The Patriots defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 2015 season opener.