O'Neill denies confidence problems

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill denied his side are lacking in confidence after they were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by local rivals Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light.

Scott McDonald's first-half strike earned Boro a quarter-final place in a hard-fought Wear-Tees derby as Sunderland again drew a blank up front in the 1-0 defeat.

"It was an opportunity for us to try and get into the quarter finals of the competition and we didn't play well enough and we didn't deserve to go through," O'Neill told reporters.

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