Defender reflects on cup exit.

Phil Bardsley couldn’t hide his frustration after Bolton knocked Sunderland out of the FA Cup with Budweiser.

Two second-half goals by Marvin Sordell at the Stadium of Light ensured the Trotters advanced to play Everton in the fourth round.

“It’s a missed opportunity and we’re thoroughly disappointed,” said Bardsley, whose side had earned themselves a replay with a 2-2 draw at the Reebok Stadium.

“We had a great chance to progress in the competition only to fall at the first hurdle."

He continued: “We didn’t get the goals, the performance was far from our best and we paid the price for it.

“It’s so disappointed as going into the game we felt we had a great chance of putting together a decent cup run.”

Bardsley highlighted the performance of Bolton keeper Andrew Lonergan, who pulled off a string of key saves in the first half.

But the defender felt Sunderland didn’t create enough opportunities and says they must strive for greater consistency.

“Their keeper made a couple of good saves but we didn’t create as many chances as we would have liked and paid the price for that,” Bardsley explained.

“We came off the back of a good result against West Ham and it’s about putting results together in consecutive fixtures. Tonight we’ve not done that.”