SUNDERLAND manager Alex Neil has been left with food for thought on how to set up his side out of possession following their dramatic 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers.

With the Black Cats sitting comfortably holding onto a two goals lead five minutes to go, Ilias Chair bent in a free-kick into the top corner before goalkeeper Seny Dieng popped up from a corner to nod home in stoppage time.

Neil described both goals as freak incidents and goals that are tactically unpreventable but it did show that his side need to improve when they haven’t got the ball.

After the game, Neil said: “We’ve got two facets to our game. What we do when we’ve got it and what we do when we haven’t got it. What I try do is set my team up so we can have the ball because I think that is our best trait. The difficulty you’ve got is as you know in any match, you’re not always going to have the ball.

“Our players are really good when we’ve got the ball. When we haven’t got it, you wouldn’t put it down as a key strength and unfortunately for us in that spell, we need to defend better as a group.

The manager was feeling the emotion of the bizarre last minute equaliser and was quick to point out that his feeling may well be getting the better of him. He added: “What I will say is I thought we defended pretty well throughout most of the match so it’s probably just a kneejerk reaction for me at the moment because I’ve conceded two goals. One from a free-kick and one from a phase from a corner but I’m just frustrated. I’m trying to dial myself in but it’s not working.”

In the moments where Sunderland were attempting to defend the corner, they were short on numbers with Dieng making a last minute call to head into the box. For QPR, it paid off big style but for Sunderland, they couldn’t match them up for numbers in the box and it told in the end.

Neil continued: “What goes through my mind is I hope one of our heads land on the ball and get rid of it. The only way to fix it is to get my goalkeeper to mark their goalkeeper but then nobody is in goal. It’s straight forward, it’s a number’s game. There’s eleven players in my box, I’ve only got eleven players but one of them is a goalkeeper so I’ve got ten marking eleven.

One is taking the corner but happens is you normally get one in the front space because it’s the most dangerous area, you’ve got one in the middle six to hopefully head the ball but unfortunately for us we just didn’t get our head on the ball in that moment. If we do, then we win the game and I’m delighted and not frustrated.”

Asked whether Neil had managed a side that had conceded to a goalkeeper, he responded with a smile: “I certainly have not, no.”

Sunderland return to action on Wednesday evening when they make the trip to Sheffield United.