GUS POYET last night insisted he had “no regrets” about Sunderland’s humiliating FA Cup defeat to Bradford City, and blamed the media for damaging his relationship with the club’s fans.

On a calamitous afternoon that ended with Sunderland’s players being booed off by their own fans for the second game in succession, an early own goal from John O’Shea and a second-half strike from Jon Stead enabled League One Bradford to add the Black Cats to their lengthy list of top-flight victims.

Having criticised a section of his own fans in the wake of Tuesday’s Premier League defeat to QPR, comments that followed previous statements about a perceived desire for “kick and rush football”, Poyet was the subject of mocking chants from the away support in the closing stages of yesterday’s game.

“It’s always our fault, it’s always our fault, Gus Poyet – it’s always our fault,” sang the away fans, before they applauded Bradford’s victorious players from the field.

It felt like a seminal moment, but rather than addressing the failings of his team as they were outclassed by opponents some 39 places below them, Poyet turned his attention to the media portrayal of his fraying relationship with his fans.

“The problem is you (the press) not me,” said the Sunderland head coach. “If you write what I say, the fans will be on my side. But because you write what you want...I'm not bothered about that.

“I am not going to get involved any more. I am doing my job. I know what is good for the team. My players need everything. If we close Sunderland, put a China wall around the city, then that would be fantastic.

“Now when we let you get in, you go out and say what you want, so I would invite every single Sunderland fan and people who care about the club, not to visit any one of you, but to me. And between ourselves.

“I have no problems (with the angry chants). I get on with my life. It is normal, I am responsible. I have no issue with the fans. I never hide, and at the end of the day I am the one who will pay the price because the one who can get sacked is me.”

Poyet defended his decision to leave Jermain Defoe out of the starting line-up by citing the striker’s long-standing calf complaint, but did not see a need to explain the failings of the players who did take to the field at Valley Parade.

Sunderland were second best throughout as they passed up the opportunity of a place in the quarter-finals, yet Poyet felt his players had done everything in their power in an attempt to make the last eight.

“The players did their best,” he said. “I think there are no regrets. I think everyone did their best and played to the best of their ability under the circumstances. It was a great cup tie like the ones we watched on TV a long time ago.

“It was a full stadium with a great set of fans. There were fights, elbows, cuts and a bad decision by the referee so I thought it was a great cup tie.”

The ‘bad decision’ was Kevin Friend’s failure to award a penalty when Rory McArdle challenged Steven Fletcher in the penalty area, but while Poyet was frustrated at a number of decisions throughout the game, he refused to blame a Valley Parade surface that had cut up badly before the warm-ups had even been completed.

“I won't complain,” he said. “We didn't lose because of the pitch. When we started the game, they found a goal from an action that can happen in any game of football, which you cannot complain about.

“And then when we started to understand the way to hurt Bradford, at that moment you need to score. We needed the referee to do his job, he didn't and then the second half we became more open and crazy.

“Without there being too many chances, there were plenty of crosses and 50-50s. It was a proper cup tie. I don't think you have to complain, but to congratulate Bradford for what they did.”

The win was Bradford’s fourth victory over top-flight opposition since December 2012, and leaves the West Yorkshire club just one game away from Wembley.

“If we get our approach right, we have a chance against anyone,” said Bantams boss Phil Parkinson. “It is a terrific record, and to have 24,000 here at Valley Parade was like a throwback, three sides of the ground singing for the team.

“We play with commitment. They pull on the shirt with pride, and we play every game giving it everything we’ve got.”