Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell has claimed that he and his teammates 'killed themselves' by conceding three goals against Leicester City inside the first 30 minutes of Saturday's Premier League opener.

The Black Cats managed to pull one back in the second half, but Dick Advocaat's side eventually fell to a 4-2 defeat at the King Power Stadium.

"Coming into the first day of the Premier League [season], you don't want to be giving sloppy goals away like that," the Chronicle quotes Rodwell as saying. "We killed ourselves in the first 30 minutes.

"We came in at half time in disbelief, facing an uphill task, and we just had to show a bit of balls out there in the second half and try not to get beaten by six or seven."

Sunderland host newly-promoted Norwich City at the Stadium of Light next Saturday.