Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder insists the 5-0 scoreline against Brighton was "harsh".
The Blades were thumped after Mason Holgate saw red on just 13 minutes.
Wilder said: "We got off to a decent start but when you down to 10 men in this league it's a tough ask. If you go down to 10 men against a team like Brighton they move you about or all over the pitch and it can expose you. We are disappointed with a couple of the goals that we conceded.
"The game plan at half-time was to go deep into the game and if there was going to be some decisions made by myself to open up we'd have done it and stuck some players at the top of the pitch up and go for it. We got to 75 minutes conceded one then another. It's a trend this year that goals in one quickly one after the another, which obviously takes the game away from us. At three or four the game is gone.
"The way they move the ball about then fatigue sets in. But it's about not feeling sorry for yourself. You are at a low and you are in the at moment and unfortunately it goes to five. It looks like a hell of a beating but I thought the attitude of the players were great. We asked them to stick in there, go deep. We had a couple of half chances which might have made it interesting. It's a harsh scoreline but it's a harsh division."
