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News coming out of the Stoke camp that striker Jonathan Walters has suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone in the 1-0 defeat by West Brom.

Najid, London: Sunderland are lucky as I can't see the three teams below them picking up many more points. That alone might save Gus Poyet till the summer.

Allison in Oxford: Fed up of the Gus Poyet bashing. Sunderland would do well to hang on to a manager for more than a couple of seasons!

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Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor: "It doesn't matter who scores. It's about getting points on the board, getting safe and starting again in the summer."

Chris Sutton
Former Norwich, Blackburn and Celtic striker on Final Score

"What would worry me is you are looking for characters and leaders, and there weren't any from Sunderland. Wes Brown and John O'Shea are their most experienced players and they were dreadful. The second goal was as basic as basic is, it was just amateurish."

Sunderland's run in: West Ham (away), Newcastle (home), Crystal Palace (home), Arsenal (away), Stoke (away), Southampton (home), Everton (away), Leicester (home), Chelsea (away).

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks on Final Score

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"Gus Poyet wants to be responsible, I thought that interview was brilliant (17:23), he's hurting and there are things he has to say to certain players. He cannot lose his players, and that was as responsible an interview as you could get from a manager in that situation. The players have to show work and commitment in their next game.

"What's exciting for Aston Villa is there is a team playing for the shirt. Tim Sherwood's instilled confidence and belief that was lacking under Paul Lambert, and that is what managers have to do."

Barcelona can go four points clear at the top of La Liga if they win at Eibar. It's goalless approaching the 30 minute mark and you can keep up to date with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.

A great day for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in League Two as his Burton side, who are top of the division, win 3-0 against Accrington. A crowd of 17,149 watches Portsmouth beat Luton 2-0, while Southend, Exeter, Bury, Hartlepool, Northampton and Wycombe are also celebrating victories.

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Sunderland boss Gus Poyet tells BBC Sport: "A day like today you need to analyse very carefully as it's not acceptable We had a good week training and we started the game very well.

"A few weeks ago was we didn't start very well. But it's not just about starting, it's about plenty of things we are not getting right. There is nobody to blame but ourselves.

"I was very positive, the players were fresh and looking forward to play game. I have to be careful what I say and analyse this situation very carefully. We had the chance to do things better and we didn't do it.

"When you are a fan and you see your team performing like we did in the first-half I would do the same. What we did last year wasn't expected. This year we haven't been in bottom three the whole year, but we cannot win enough and we have put ourselves in a difficult situation."

The Mighty Mojo: How many managers are Sunderland going to get through before they look at the players? Many of them are on their fourth manager.

Eamonn McGurk: Sunderland and QPR are a joke! I'd relegate both of them.

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks on Final Score

"If that had been me (see entry at 17:02 from Sunderland's Wes Brown) I would have apologised to the Sunderland fans. I thought that was a bit lame bearing in mind the gravity of that performance. I think Gus Poyet will have said 'I took the vent of the fans frustration for you'. I wasn't very impressed with that Wes Brown interview."

Easy for Preston in League One. After Joe Garner's four goals, Jermaine Beckford added a fifth to make it 5-1 on a day to forget for Crewe. Tony Mowbray got his first win as Coventry manager, as his side beat Chesterfield 3-2. Crawley, Leyton Orient and Barnsley also score three in their wins against Colchester, Yeovil and Oldham respectively. Peterborough, Fleetwood and Swindon also win.

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Gus Poyet is not hanging about. He describes Sunderland's performance as unacceptable and says he understands the fans reaction. "I would do the same," he adds. Full quotes to follow.

Here comes Sunderland boss Gus Poyet. He doesn't look happy.

Around 15 minutes to kick-off in the sixth and final Premier League game of the day. The Clarets can move to within one point of 17th-placed Sunderland with a win, while City can move two points behind leaders Chelsea. Keep up to date with our live text commentary on the BBC Sport website.

Steph Clark: Change afoot at Sunderland? Shambolic in first half, damage limitation in the second - but who next?

Jacob Phripp: Really thought after the Paolo Di Canio mess the Sunderland players would play for Gus Poyet. Appears I was wrong.

Bournemouth thrash Blackpool 4-0 to return top of the Championship table, Norwich and Derby draw 1-1, while there are wins for Bolton, Cardiff and Wigan. Jordan Rhodes scores twice as Blackburn win 3-1 at Charlton Athletic. Watford beat a weakened Reading 4-1. The games between Birmingham and Huddersfield, Brighton and Wolves, Leeds and Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham end in draws.

Jimmy Armfield
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"I think Villa still need a bit of steel to push themselves on, but it's been a great day for them. Villa really did show that they have some players with talent when they get themselves together."

Image source, AFP

Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood is smiling in front of the Match of the Day cameras. And so he should be as Aston Villa are now six points above the relegation zone after leapfrogging Sunderland in the table.

Steven, Isle of Man: Guy Poyet was on thin ice before this game. I wonder what the odds are on him being sacked on live TV again?