MARTIN O'NEILL will have Sunderland's players back on the training ground this morning and intends to spend the rest of the week desperately searching for a solution to the team's problems in front of goal.

With back-to-back away days at Everton and Fulham over the next two weekends, the Black Cats' hopes of ending a worrying slump is certainly not going to come easily after Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

Confidence, O'Neill suggests, is the reason for Sunderland's inability to threaten the opposition's goal and he is perplexed at the fact a team possessing a number of attack-minded players has only conjured up four shots on target in 360 minutes of football.

And the fact Newcastle striker Demba Ba's own goal is the only time Sunderland have found the net since September 29 - when Steven Fletcher scored the last of his five this season - further highlights their struggles.

In the last couple of matches O'Neill has changed personnel and systems to address the slide. Whether Craig Gardner has been moved into the middle or Seb Larsson switched to the flanks at the expense of James McClean, the profligacy has continued.

And O'Neill readily admits the malaise has left him wondering what to try next.

He said: "We have thrown everything in there, were countless times we have had one on one with wingers. We are playing with wingers, it's not as if we are not.

"We have had so many attacking players on the field and I am not even talking about the team that finished against Aston Villa, I am talking about the team that started.

"We have attacking players all over the pitch and you would think you would eke out a goal from that but the most encouraging thing for me is number of times we have had one on one and that is what we strive for."

Gardner's drives forward, the presence of Adam Johnson and Larsson on the wings and Stephane Sessegnon's improved display behind Fletcher in attack made Sunderland more fluent than of late.

But for all their hard work and endeavour, it remained the case that Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan only had a routine shot from distance by Lee Cattermole to stop late in the second half.

It is difficult to imagine that Sunderland can afford to be so adventurous at Goodison Park, when O'Neill is hoping his captain will help to ensure small improvements continue - in the hope of winning for only the second time in the league this season.

Cattermole was the player to speak after the weekend defeat and immediately suggested Sunderland will try out new drills on the training ground to build up confidence from the team's creative players.

O'Neill said: "I don't want to be too harsh on the team after one defeat, it's an interesting thing when confidence is a bit low because some times it is hard to take everything on board.

"Lee does take it upon himself to help everyone along, he wants to do it and that showed in his performance on Saturday. He was really, really fantastic and I think we can all pick up great heart from that.

"I said to him afterwards I thought it was an absolutely brilliant performance considering the team was beaten. If that was a victory it would have been heralded as one of the truly brilliant performances at this stadium in recent times."

* Sunderland defender John Egan, 20, has joined Bradford City on loan until the new year. Egan has also had previous loan spells with Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.