Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson has insisted that his side need to continue to battle in their fight against relegation following their crushing 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

The Black Cats were hammered in front of their own fans as Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke both netted twice in the first half, prompting a mass exodus at the Stadium of Light and furious reactions from supporters towards manager Gus Poyet on the bench.

Larsson told Sky Sports News: "We are not going to lie down and give up. We are going to battle on.

"Too many times this season, we have had chances to pull away and we haven't done it, and we know that's our problem. Why? I don't know - if I knew the answer, we would have rectified it.

"But we will keep battling away and making sure we get the points we need to stay up, and then we need to start afresh and really have a think about things in the summer."

Sunderland are in 17th place in the table, just one point clear of the bottom three.