Gus Poyet has slammed Sunderland's 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa as 'unacceptable' and understands the mass exodus by fans at the Stadium of Light.

Braces from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke put Villa four up inside 44 minutes and prompted hundreds of fans to walk out prior to the half-time whistle.

Poyet is at a loss as to why his players performed so poorly and has admitted that the Black Cats only have themselves to blame for their alarming position one place above the Premier League relegation zone.

"A day like today you need to analyse very carefully as it's not acceptable," he told reporters. "We had a good week training and we started the game very well. A few weeks ago was we didn't start very well. But it's not just about starting, it's about plenty things we are not getting right.

"There is nobody to blame but ourselves. I was very positive, the players were fresh and looking forward to play game. I have to be careful what I say and analyse this situation very carefully. We had the chance to do things better and we didn't do it.

"When you are a fan and you see your team performing like we did in the first half I would do the same. What we did last year wasn't expected. This year we haven't been in bottom three the whole year, but we cannot win enough and we have put ourselves in a difficult situation."

Sunderland, who return to action with a trip to West Ham United next weekend, have only won two home league games all season and have failed to score in five of their last six outings on their own turf.