"If we were a bit meaner as a team overall while keeping our discipline as well it can only help us with what we aim to do," he says, reflecting on a rare away defeat.
"It is important to keep your discipline especially away from home where you need everyone together; we learnt a lot of things on Saturday.
"We are a young side and we need to take things on board quickly.
"In the first half we felt quite comfortable defensively but when you go to a big place like Sunderland it is tough.
"They got in our faces and got the rub of the green a bit with one set play when the lad toe poked it in but at the end of the day it is down to work rate."
As for the early enforced departure of Mattie Etherington, he says:
"It was a big loss and a big blow so early in the game; the way he played against Wimbledon showed he was on fire.
"He shows week in week out that he makes things happen and he was a big loss.
"Those things happen but you can't use it as an excuse just because Mattie wasn't on the pitch - we lost too many battles.
"The tackle was a little bit mistimed; it wasn't the best challenge I have seen, but that is what Sunderland are all about and perhaps we might have to put that into our game, a bit more aggression.
"They got their crowd going and that is why they won the game because things like that happened."