Sunderland defender Wes Brown believes that new boss Martin O'Neill needs to lift the team as he embarks on a new career at Wearside.

The ex-Manchester United player thinks that confidence is vital in order for the Black Cats to climb up the table following a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.

"[O'Neill] has inherited a great team with good quality, we just need to start gelling and winning games," Brown told the club's official website.

"When we missed the penalty [against Wolves] you could see heads going down and that's what we don't need, we needed to stay focused. We were winning the game 1-0, very comfortably I thought.

"But we missed the penalty and within a minute they scored. Suddenly they were attacking us and we got our heads down. We were maybe feeling sorry for ourselves and the rest is history."

Sunderland are only one point above the relegation zone in the league table.