Asked if he felt the England goalkeeper's confidence has taken a damaging dip since his part in the national team's failure to reach the Euro 2008 finals, the Irishman hesitated almost as much as Carson had when Chopra was closing in on goal with seven minutes remaining.

After a fair pause for thought, O'Neill asked himself the question: "What am I going to say?

"We had a couple of shaky moments and I would not like to pinpoint individuals.

"He would not be the only one who made mistakes here and it would be very difficult to single him out."

The fact was that Carson had spilled badly inside the box in the first-half and failed to make a decision late in the second-half on whether to go and meet Chopra run or find a position to make a save – he finished up in no-man's land.

"The thing I want to encourage Scott Carson to do is keep coming – don't be rooted to your line.

"If by coming, there will be a mistake or two but he will be better in the long run, that is all to the good.

"Over the course of time, David James had a few anxious moments in his career and he has turned out to be a top-quality goalkeeper."

Carson's wobbly form is not the only concern for O'Neill, however.

They were second-best in most areas on Saturday and their aspirations to reach Europe will certainly not be achieved on performances like this.

O'Neill said: "It was a big game for both clubs and it was disappointing to lose the game at a stage when I was thinking we would at least not get beaten.

"We failed to take our chances in the game and our overall play was disappointing.

"We started out brightly enough in the game but lost our way bit and people were getting a bit anxious.

"We had a lot of pressure in the second-half and I could not see Sunderland eeking out chances, but suddenly – from trying to win the game – we have lost it."

Portsmouth, another of the hopefuls for a Uefa Cup spot, had lost Saturday's lunchtime game 2-0 at Tottenham, but Villa couldn't capitalise and Sunderland claimed a win that took them four points clear of the drop.

"It was obviously a big win for Sunderland," admitted O'Neill. "From our point of view – going into the game knowing Portsmouth had been beaten – it was an opportunity missed."