GUS POYET denies he has lost respect of the Sunderland dressing room after a shambolic home performance against Aston Villa saw the Black Cats slip closer to the Premier League’s bottom three.

The head coach revealed he will carry out a full inquest into the Wearsiders’ humiliating 4-0 defeat and insisted he will not walk away despite increasing anger from the stands at the Stadium of Light.

A handful of supporters had to be stopped from storming the home dugout after Gabriel Agbonlahor scored Aston Villa’s third in an alarming first half display.

Sunderland’s performance seemed even more perplexing after Poyet revealed his players had trained well during the week, but the under-fire boss insisted his players are still on board with his philosophy.

“If I did (lose the dressing room) then I am living in another world,” Poyet said after braces from Christian Benteke and Agbonlahor sealed Tim Sherwood’s third consecutive win. “It is totally not the case and is nothing to do with that. We had the best week in training for a while, and the way we were training was the way we started the game.

“Sometimes in football when you think you are in a good position you get brought down.

“I don't know (if the message is getting through). You need to ask the players. It is not for me to comment on that. I would be making suppositions.

“I think we have got certain qualities. They always give you the belief that things are going to get better but it is not happening. We need to search for solutions.

“We talk about changing, leaving the two strikers together. It is very easy but at the end of the day it is all about results.”

It looked as though Sunderland had got away with it when Queens Park Rangers lost at Crystal Palace in the day’s early kick-off, but Burnley’s shock win over reigning champion Manchester City saw the Clarets close the gap to one point.

It remains to be seen whether Sunderland owner Ellis Short will act with the club entrenched in another relegation battle but Poyet revealed there were no scheduled talks between the two.

He said: “I am not going to send a message via you. I am just doing what I need to do. Call me tomorrow then after that you will probably know because everything is coming out, but at the moment I cannot think about that.

“I need to think about the job, what happened in the first half and to start putting things right.

“The only thing I can promise is that we are going to keep working as hard as we can. I can’t say more than that. Just to play with intelligence.

“You cannot say things you cannot do. I cannot promise things because I do not know what is going to happen.

“The only thing I can promise is that we are going to analyse the situation and work as hard as we can to put it right. Like I said it is me making the decisions. Nobody is responsible other than me.

“I don't pick and choose. I am responsible when it goes the other way. It is me. I am going to be there. Whatever comes I am going to be facing it. I am the one in charge.”

Sunderland made it extremely easy for a Villa team that had only scored four times away from home before the game to double their tally.

Tim Sherwood has turned Villa’s fortunes around, but the Black Cats have gone in the opposite direction despite managing to stay above trouble for most of the season and Poyet admitted they are now in a precarious position.

“We have put ourselves in a terrible situation,” he said. “We have had so many chances not to be in the position in which we are and it is an absolute shame that we are doing what we are doing.

“It is because of us. We cannot blame anyone. I always said that. It can be a refereeing decision for one game, but it is not one game. The team is starting well one game and bad one game, scoring first like at Hull and then not. It is a really big disappointment. A shame. I am really disappointed.”