Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has taken the rap for their underperforming season.
A nightmare injury list and the shock January sale of Darren Bent to Aston Villa for £24m means 14th-placed Sunderland will be lucky to hit his aim of a top-10 finish.
Bruce said: "Could I have got more out of the players? Possibly. Could we have been six points better off? Yes, that's the frustration.
"For six months we were resilient and were hard to beat. Then, all of a sudden, we're not.
"I need a break as you can see by the state of me. It's been the toughest, most difficult three months I've had in 30 years in the game. It's been really frustrating and disappointing."
