Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has accused his team of regressing back into the standard of performances which have threatened the Black Cats' Premier League status.
The North East outfit went down 2-0 to Hull City at the Stadium of Light this afternoon, with Wes Brown's red card after four minutes - his third of the campaign - setting the tone for the defeat.
Shane Long opened the scoring on 12 minutes after pouncing on a loose back-pass from defender Phil Bardsley, before Nikica Jelavic put the result beyond doubt in the second half.
Poyet's men had seen their bid for survival reinvigorated in recent weeks after taking 10 points from a possible 12, and the Uruguayan has warned his team they cannot slip back into old habits if they are to remain in the top flight.
"It's something we've been good at in the last month and a half," he told reporters. "Before that, there was always something - a mistake or a sending off. We went back to that.
"It's difficult to analyse. We tried. We reorganised the team and, for some moments, we were still in the game but the second goal killed it."
Sunderland, who remain 17th in the standings, face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Shane Callaghan
