Moyes warns fans Black Cats revival won’t happen overnight

David Moyes has insisted he is not being defeatist by admitting Sunderland are engaged in yet another Premier League relegation fight just two games into the new season.

The Black Cats boss’s comments following Sunday’s 2-1 derby defeat by Middlesbrough were met with dismay by some fans, who had hoped for better this season following four successive – and ultimately successful – battles to preserve the club’s top-flight status.

Moyes has high hopes of improving on that record and steering Sunderland into calmer waters, but he knows there is no quick fix.

He said: “I tell it pretty straight. The truth of it is, does it need me to say it? The club has probably just avoided relegation in the last four years or so.

“I don’t want that to happen, I want to have a team which gets us up the league. But it can’t happen overnight, and I have reiterated that. It can’t happen overnight and I can’t change it overnight.

“All I am saying is we need to make changes to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

“At the moment, we have got to make sure that we’re not near the bottom, but I’m also a realist as well.”