Sunderland boss David Moyes has urged his players to banish their early-season woes and pick up a first Premier League win of the season on Saturday.
A trip to West Ham United is next on the Black Cats’ agenda with the Hammers buoyed by a first win in six after narrowly defeating Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last weekend.
Slaven Bilic’s side, who have won one of their four top-flight outings at the London Stadium, are hoping to build momentum as they aim to move up the Premier League table.
But ascendancy is also at the front of Moyes’ mind, and speaking to safc.com he challenged his side to seal that one win that would make all the difference.
“We want to get better, we want to play better and we want to show we are a better team,” said the Sunderland boss. “We have to get that first win under our belt as quick as we can to start moving up the league.
“We have been close in some games – winning 2-0 against Palace, winning 1-0 against Southampton – so we’ve had games where we could have picked up points, and if you win one of those it would look a lot different and we would be looking at it in a different way.
“We haven’t and that’s our fault so we need to cure that and make it better,” continued Moyes.
“One win would make a massive difference; it would lift confidence and it would get us much closer to the teams above us, while giving us the opportunity to build.”
Moyes also shared his thoughts on West Ham United, pinpointing a number of individuals who have contributed to their recent success which included a seventh-place finish last season.
“It’s obvious to talk about Payet and Antonio has done very well, so I think they have good players but they also have heart in the likes of Collins, Noble and Reid who have been there a long time.
“I think they have a good team and they showed it last year, but you have to remember that prior to that they were a little inconsistent and they were never a team who were always near the top of the league.”
He added: “Prior to that they got relegated and came back up, so they’re trying to find their consistency as well.”
