O'Neill condemns Sunderland's Taylor taunts

SUNDERLAND, United Kingdom (AFP) - Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has slammed his club's own fans after they aimed sick chants at Newcastle defender Steven Taylor during Sunday's 1-1 draw.

Taylor had angered Sunderland fans earlier in the week by claiming none of O'Neill's squad were good enough to get into the Newcastle team, but the Black Cats boss admitted the supporters who chanted 'Steven Taylor, we wish you were dead' had gone too far.

"I didn't know that," O'Neill said when asked about the taunts. "That would be poor, in very poor taste, if that's the case. I would be disappointed to have heard that."

Taylor suffered a barrage of abuse whenever he warmed-up before eventually coming on as a late substitute at the Stadium of Light, while there was also an allegation that the Magpies' Senegal striker Demba Ba was racially abused by a Sunderland fan during a typically stormy Tyne-Wear derby.