Moyes: Buy or bye
Moyes wants reinforcements to stave off relegation
Sunderland boss David Moyes believes his side's current slump has reiterated the need for reinforcements after they exited the FA Cup with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley yesterday morning (Singapore time).
A second loss at Turf Moor in 18 days, this one in an FA Cup third-round replay, extended the Black Cats' winless run to six games as the Clarets booked a date in the next round with Bristol City later this month.
Sunderland were beaten 4-1 by Burnley in the Premier League on New Year's Eve and, although the margin was not as great, the performance of Moyes' men was equally hapless as they failed to muster a shot on target until the 88th minute.
Moyes had made just three changes to his team and thinks their rotten run epitomises how thin his squad are.
"I think so," he admitted.
"I've not wanted to use it as an excuse and I've genuinely tried not to, and I'm not using it here.
"I expect the players who are out there to play better, I don't expect them to make a couple of mistakes but, if I had other players, maybe I could take some players out and put somebody else in.
"I could do something different with it and let them know - you're not getting away with that. At the moment, I can't do that.
"I've tried not to use it in any way as an excuse, but it's a fact, we're short, we're finding it a struggle, we're putting near enough the same players out."
Any hope all of the answers lie in the transfer market has been scuppered by Sunderland's insistence that they are operating with a limited budget this month.
Though his hands are tied, Moyes' fingers remain crossed as he seeks some additions to steer them away from the Premier League's bottom three.
"We're looking around, everyone knows our limitations, but we are needing to add, due to the shortage of what we've got - long-term injuries, some who are close, boys at the African Nations Cup," he added.
"We're trying, we're always hopeful, always pushing to see if something can work.
"We need to see what happens. It's more than some one (player), that's obvious." - PA SPORT
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