Stoke City manager Mark Hughes felt his side deserved to be on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.
The Potters had won 2-1 at the Stadium of Light in the Capital One Cup 11 days earlier, but had no such luck in the Premier League, with Steven Fletcher netting twice and Connor Wickham also getting on the scoresheet for the home side.
Hughes told a news conference: "It was not great from us today, to be perfectly honest. We didn't really defend correctly or with any kind of purpose in that opening period and as a consequence, we gave up two goals, two really easy goals.
"Sunderland, to their credit, were able to win the game quite comfortably. We didn't ask enough questions of them. They probably had three strikes on goal and scored three goals.''
Hughes revealed after the game that Victor Moses, who lasted just 18 minutes, had limped off with a recurrence of the thigh problem he felt after Monday night's win over Newcastle.