Poyet finds himself under pressure once as his team succumbed to a self-inflicted 2-0 home defeat by Arsenal on Saturday, just seven days after being trounced 8-0 at Southampton.

The Black Cats head coach presided over yet another major overhaul of the squad last summer after pulling off an unlikely escape act from the threat of relegation.

The 46-year-old Uruguayan points to the continuity in Arsene Wenger's squad compared to the state of flux in his own squad.

Poyet said: "I'll tell you one instance that you probably don't know: eight players from the Arsenal starting line-up last year are here, they are in Arsenal's squad; seven players from Sunderland's starting XI last year here are not even at Sunderland.

"That shows you there is an advantage for people who have a squad that is together and you add quality and what you are missing, and another team where you start from zero every single year, and every year you need to see if you
have got the characters, if you have got the quantity, if you have got the quality, if they understand the game, if they can defend as a team, if you are going to play long or short or passing.

"It's a little bit of a disadvantage without being an excuse, but we need to make sure that we don't do it anymore. We don't want to start next year again from zero and have another seven players in the starting XI."

Two of Sunderland's longer-serving, and usually more dependable men, were at fault in the 2-0 loss to the Gunners.

Defender Wes Brown and goalkeeper Vito Mannone gifted both goals to Arsenal but Poyet is standing by his players.

He added: "They are human beings and anything can happen on a football pitch. These are actions that I don't think can repeat themselves, I don't think you can train for them.

"They are just mistakes that happen in football and, unfortunately, it's going a little bit against us at the moment."