Bruce returned to the Latics on Saturday, after leaving the club to join the Black Cats in the summer.
“To see the level of performance we put in last week and that we have done for weeks, to come here in front of five and a half thousand away travelling fans, we haven’t given them anything to shout about,” Bruce told Sky Sports.
“And that’s the frustrating and disappointing thing because we were way, way short – and that’s not just the first time – on our ideas of how we’re going to perform in the Premier League.”
He added: “I think we’ve only won one out of 17 away games going back into the depths of last year, so we have to arrest that if we’re going to go and take the club forward.
“Certainly we’ve improved at home, but away from home; we’ve played particularly well at Tottenham but there’s been too many days like today.
“Burnley, Birmingham, here today, we haven’t done enough to win the football match and that’s disappointing.”
