Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was angered by comments from former Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton during defeat to Aston Villa.

Sutton in a BBC blog in which he likened Sebastian Larsson's delayed return for the second half to a pub team player having a cigarette at half-time.

Poyet said: "Seb Larsson is one of the biggest and best professionals we have got at the football club. He had a massive cut in his leg, they were trying to stitch it, they couldn't do it quickly enough.

"He didn't want to come off because he felt responsible for the 4-0 in the first half, and we waited for him. We asked the referee to delay a little bit the second half - there are some rules in football which mean you can do it, but not for long - and he came out.

"It's very disrespectful about one hell of a professional. Seb Larsson doesn't deserve that."