Following the final whistle at the Stadium of Light, Omer Riza spoke to the press to share his thoughts on the result.
The Bluebirds were narrowly defeated by the Black Cats on Saturday afternoon, with a 77th minute winner by the hosts proving the difference after City had fought back to equalise through Isaak Davies during the first half.
“You come to places like this and if you leave with a point with the league as it is at the minute and looking at their form, you’d be happy," Omer began. “We should have come away with a point, and it’s one lapse of concentration again with the free-kick and it’s a simple ball between lines and across the box for a tap in.
"We don’t score goals like that, or get given cheap opportunities like that. We’re frustrated, as we had an opportunity to make it 2-1 to us. If we’d left with a point I think we would have been deserving of it.
“Ultimately, we’ve conceded a goal in a manner that I’m unhappy with, when we’ve worked so hard. We always say that when you come to these places you’ve got to be fully focussed, for 95 minutes of the game we were but switched off for that one moment and got punished for it.
“These are all games where the points go to our league tally. We’ve still got tough games to play and we’ve got to win them."
Omer continued by praising the efforts of goalscorer Isaak Davies, who got on the scoresheet with his first start of the season following a return from injury.
“Isaak has been out a long time with injury," he said. "He’s worked really hard to get himself back to where he is now and with a new contract as well, so it’s nice to see him playing.
“The plan today was for him to open up; he’s quick, aggressive on that top line and he’s got a goal today, so I’m pleased for him.”