“There were a lot of positives, but we are sick of saying that.”
John O’Shea pulled no punches with his verdict from the Riverside Stadium on Sunday, demanding his team-mates turn the ‘positives’ into results.
Middlesbrough struck early through youngster Marcus Tavernier to secure all three points, condemning Sunderland to their second defeat in three matches.
The Black Cats weren’t without their chances though, as Lewis Grabban, Lee Cattermole and Didier Ndong forced good saves from Republic of Ireland stopper Darren Randolph.
But the Lads were unable to claw themselves back into the fixture, leaving O’Shea frustrated with the outcome.
“It was disappointing because we wanted a result," he said. "First and foremost, we want three points and if you can’t get that you need to get one.
“We started so well in the game, but we keep saying that. We have to take chances, we have to punish teams.
“Middlesbrough punished us with their chance but then we were well on top of the game.
“We are creating chances, but the rub of the green fell their way again in the sense that their keeper made some great saves.
“We were pushing in the second half to get that equalising and we were leaving ourselves that bit open again so there is a big frustration, but we need to use that in the right way and turn those performances into results.
“We can’t keep saying that. We have to grind out a result, grind out clean sheets and if we can do that we will take at least a point.
“There were a lot of positives, but we are sick of saying that,” he continued.
“Our professional pride should be hurting when we are looking at that table at the minute.
“We have to react quickly and the only way to do that is by getting wins as quickly as possible.”