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Dan Neil makes 'daft' admission after what happened in Sunderland defeat to Watford

Dan is a sports writer and broadcaster, who wrote for Breaking Media Limited's club sites between May 2024 and May 2025. Graduating from the University of Huddersfield in 2018 with First Class Honours in Sports Journalism, Dan has worked with several EFL clubs, as well as with BBC Radio, talkSPORT and TNT Sports. He previously resided in Sydney, Australia, where he continued his career as a freelance writer and broadcaster in various sports.

Published on:

29 Sep 2024, 4:03 am

Sunderland skipper Dan Neil has acknowledged the "daft mistake" that cost the side late on in the 2-1 defeat at Watford on Saturday (28 September).

Neil went to ground inside his own penalty area to concede a spot-kick, which was converted by Tom Dele-Bashiru with six minutes remaining of the contest at Vicarage Road.

This came after Wilson Isidor had cancelled out Festy Ebosele's opener with his first Black Cats goal, with Regis Le Bris' side suffering their second Championship defeat of the season.

Neil spoke to Sunderland's club media [28 September] after the game, fronting up his error of judgement, saying: "In the second half we were the better team, and a daft mistake and a lack of concentration has cost us the game.

"It was a bad decision in my own box which has cost us, but we have to take the positives into Tuesday - luckily it's a quick turnaround."

Sunderland fail to return top of the league

After West Bromwich Albion's lunchtime defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, Sunderland could have returned to the summit of the Championship with victory over Watford but passed up the opportunity.

While performances are by and large hitting the standards, there remain costly errors that plague the Black Cats' young side at times - but credit has to go to Neil for refusing to hide and publicly taking accountability.

In the bigger picture it has been a superb start, and Le Bris' team are still maintaining their 100% home record as Derby County and Leeds United both visit the Stadium of Light within the next week.

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris [Credit: Imago]

There is more competition for places on Wearside these days too, with a clutch of new signings brought in over the summer and several still yet to feature as they gather sharpness.

Four points from the next two games would be a solid enough return, as October sees the battle in the Championship heat up.

In other Sunderland news, the Bellingham family discuss Jobe's stint on Wearside.

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Sunderland

Dan Neil

Watford