New chief relishes tour escape

David Moyes sees Sunderland’s pre-season trip to France as the ideal opportunity to brush up on his new players.

Moyes watched Sunderland’s 2-1 victory at Rotherham United from the stands on Saturday after his appointment on a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light was confirmed by the Black Cats earlier in the day.

Sunderland flew out to France yesterday for a week in the Lake Geneva area, where Moyes’s side will face three friendlies – starting with tonight’s encounter against Swiss club Stade Nyonnais (6.30pm).

And the 53-year-old is looking forward to the trip as the chance to get up close and personal with the Sunderland squad, with just three weeks to go until the Premier League campaign gets underway.

Moyes said: “I need to get to know the players as quickly as I can really.

“I have to see what we have in the club, what we have in the academy, have a look at young players coming through.”

Moyes has been out of work since he was sacked by Real Sociedad last November, yet he has a wealth of experience of Premier League football after more than a decade at Everton and Manchester United.

“I’m experienced, have managed in about 850 games and have got about 450 in the Premier League, so I’m looking forward to getting back in again,” he added to the club website.

“I’m looking forward to being around the players. The players did a great job in the way they finished last season, and how well they performed to make sure they weren’t in trouble.

“We have to pick up on that, but we also have to make sure that we’re challenging the players by giving them tough competition.

“There are going to be players pushing them for their jersey if they don’t perform well.”

Meanwhile, Rotherham manager Alan Stubbs enjoyed his side’s display against the Black Cats. “We started the game well and we started the second half well,” Stubbs said “There were a lot of positives in the game. The way that we want the team to play is starting to take shape. We were very good at times.”