SAM ALLARDYCE will carefully monitor how Sunderland’s players react to a crushing defeat at Everton to help determine the members of his squad he will keep in his long-term plans.

Allardyce rued defensive mistakes and poor decision making at Goodison Park where the Toffees capitalised to smash six past the Black Cats.

Sunderland showed plenty of attacking purpose – scoring through Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher - but were ultimately made to pay for leaving far too many gaps for a Premier League opponent to exploit.

Allardyce learned plenty about the team during the performance and is keen to make further calls on individuals in the weeks ahead, before he will look to bring new players in during the January transfer window.

He has already held a series of face-to-face meetings with every member of his first -team squad and the defeat to Everton has left him in an even greater rush to work out who he can rely on for the relegation fight.

“I've seen some players more than others,” said Allardyce. “I'm still making my mind up and sooner or later I will, and decide what's good enough and what's not.

“That's my job, to find out as quickly as I can and those who are going to fight and produce performances, I'll stick with.

“Those who don't up their game to the level I expect are going to find it difficult to get a game.”

He added: “What have I learned about the players today? How to cope with certain situations in the 90 minutes, and they've made the wrong decisions here. It's trying to coax them into making the right ones.”

Sunderland started promisingly and hit the woodwork twice before Everton opened the scoring through Gerard Deulofeu in the 19th minute when he was left in space down the right by Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt.

But Sunderland recovered from falling two-down to Arouna Kone’s drive just after half an hour by pulling level with goals from Defoe and Fletcher either side of half-time.

But then when Sebastian Coates headed into his own net ten minutes after the break, Everton ripped Sunderland’s lethargic three-man central defensive line with ease. Romelu Lukaku and a further two from Kone completed the romp.

Allardyce, who has won one and lost two of his three games in charge ahead of Saturday’s visit of Southampton, said: “Obviously I'm concerned about the lack of understanding in certain periods of the game by the team, particularly when it got back to 2-2.

“Nothing wrong with what we'd been doing up to then, apart from giving a very soft first goal away which could have easily been avoided. Obviously the second goal was a bit of a cracker from Kone.

“But the goal before half-time and the chances we created in the first half gave me some encouragement, to say that if we got a second we keep it tight then, lads. We play the game out and frustrate Everton.

“But when we got the second, we decided to go and attack, attack, attack for the third. We didn't get it and within seven minutes, we tossed the game away allowing Everton to score three very silly, sloppy goals from counter-attack that they didn't have to work very hard for.

“That seven minutes, that lack of discipline and understanding has really concerned me when we should have been satisfied with the 2-2. We should have frustrated Everton and maybe we might have got on the end of another counter-attack and scored another, because they were on the back foot at 2-2.

“That sums it up for me, a lack of understanding at certain points in the game. What to do, when and how. We decided to do it the wrong way, and give Everton the opportunity to play on the counter-attack, breeze through and score three goals in seven in minutes.”

Allardyce fielded a wing-back system with three centre-backs in the absence of Younes Kaboul and John O’Shea and he will consider his options again this week in the hope of keeping out Southampton. He does not, though, blame the formation for the defeat.

“It doesn't look good when you've lost 6-2,” he said. “But I don't think it mattered what system we played at 2-2, if players decide to go and do what they want, not the right things, the system won't matter. You've got to be in there doing your best, in and out of possession, as a team.

“On a positive note, I hate losing 6-2 but we've had 17 attempts on goal, 12 on target. That should have brought us more goals but if it's going to keep the other end open as it was today I'd sooner have two shots, score two goals and draw 2-2 all day long.”

Sunderland are already without O’Shea, Kaboul, Fabio Borini and Ola Toivonen through injury and Lee Cattermole had to be replaced before half-time at Everton.

Allardyce said: “It's a bit of an ongoing problem Cattermole's had, he hasn't been training too much. We're managing him through it, trying to find a cure.

“Now it's coming up to the international break, after that I hope we've completely recovered from the injuries. It looked like we missed O'Shea and Kaboul.”

HOW TWITTER REACTED TO THE DEFEAT:

Tom ‏@DupeTweet  

If someone told me at the start of the season that #SAFC would only be 4 places behind #CFC by 1st of November. I'd have accepted that...

Clattermole ‏@safc_pride 

@JohnC2063 it will speak volumes how #safc act in January window. Will Ellis Short get the message or not

Jordan maloy ‏@MaloyJordan 

We need to sign 2 or 3 quality defenders in January or we will be in trouble #SAFC

Stephen Milnes ‏@StephenMilnes  

A massive lack of leadership and clear, pragmatic decision-making from #safc today. We've got goals in us, just got to keep calm heads.

Jai Pushkin ‏@JaiP72  

Football is a simple game complicated by idiots. What sort of formation is 3412? Big Sam? 6-2 loss that's what #safc #efc