DICK ADVOCAAT has admitted he resisted the temptation to vent his anger in the immediate aftermath of Sunderland's 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The Black Cats conceded four goals in the space of 14 second-half minutes as they collapsed at the Stadium of Light, with their performance significantly inferior to the one they produced to win the Wear-Tyne derby six days earlier.

Sunderland's defending was diabolical as Yannick Bolasie helped himself to an 11-minute hat-trick, but Advocaat did not feel a furious reaction would have a positive impact.

Tellingly, the Dutchman did not believe that a lack of effort or application was the problem on Saturday, suggesting he feels that some of his players are simply not good enough to maintain high standards week after week.

He said: "There is no point becoming angry at the players. If I want to become angry, there must be a need.

"They tried to do their best, but we must improve as a team. It doesn't help me shouting at everybody, some players are playing at their limit, that is clear. But we showed against Newcastle that if everybody does what they are supposed to do, we can still play well."

QPR's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea means Sunderland remain three points clear of the relegation zone with six games still to play.

Their fate is still very much in their own hands, but Advocaat concedes the battle to avoid the drop is likely to go right to the wire.

He said: "I'm not trying to find excuses, I don't do that, but I knew when I started it would be very difficult.

"We have six games to go and we can still do a good job. We have to try to get the confidence back. We have to do it wiith this group of players and we will do."