Sunday 1 January 2017 23:44, UK
Sunderland boss David Moyes fears the club’s current predicament means it will be difficult to sign players as he prepares for transfer discussions with owner Ellis Short.
For the second straight season the Black Cats begin the calendar year struggling in the bottom three after Burnley defeated them 4-1 at Turf Moor on New Year's Eve.
Last January, then-manager Sam Allardyce signed Lamine Kone, Wahbi Khazri and Jan Kirchhoff in the transfer window and their arrival inspired an upturn in form to ensure their Premier League survival.
Fast forward a year and Moyes knows he has limited funds to use this time around, with the extent of money available to him likely to become clearer when he speaks to Short.
Regardless of how much he has in the kitty, however, Moyes knows attracting quality players to a club regularly battling for survival makes the recruitment process even harder.
"Ellis will speak with me and I'll speak with Ellis, I've got no doubt," Moyes said ahead of Monday's game with Liverpool at the Stadium of Light.
"We'll see what we can do. It's difficult. It will even be difficult to attract the players. We need to say, 'We need you'."
Should he leave those discussions with positive news, Moyes may consider moving for a goalkeeper after Vito Mannone had an afternoon to forget against Burnley.
He failed to stop Andre Gray's first goal, which was hit virtually straight at him, and was then rounded by the same player having rushed out to the edge of his box early in the second half.
With regular first choice No 1 Jordan Pickford out for up to eight weeks, Mannone's performance might have given Moyes cause for concern.
"I just think there were chances for things to be saved and hopefully he would admit that as well," added Moyes.
"The second as well, he didn't need to come and get involved. But there was more involved in the goals than just the goalkeeper."
