Moyes brushes off Short’s Sunderland appearance
David Moyes refused to read anything suspicious into the appearance of Sunderland owner Ellis Short at the Stadium of Light to see his side slip closer to the Championship after a goalless draw with Burnley.
Short has been an infrequent matchday visitor this season and will have been less than impressed as a series of missed chances contributed to the Black Cats’ survival mission becoming ever more unlikely.
Moyes is the last manager standing in the Premier League relegation fight following last week’s dismissal of Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka, but he insisted he is unconcerned by Short’s rare appearance.
Moyes said: “I spoke to him (Short) today. I suppose if you own a football club you are entitled to come and watch it – he is allowed to do that. I saw him this morning and he is entitled to come along but it is all good.”
Moyes was left to rue misses from the likes of Billy Jones and Fabio Borini as his side drew a blank for the third consecutive game following their dramatic 4-0 win at relegation rivals Crystal Palace in February.
He added: “It was not the prettiest but we had more opportunities than we’ve had in recent games. I think we made more chances today than we did against Palace, where we had four chances and scored everything we hit.
“It’s not for want of trying – we’ve got nearly every forward player we’ve got on the pitch and if a couple of those opportunities had fallen for Jermain (Defoe), that might have helped.
“But we need others to score, not just Jermain, and today was an opportunity for them to do that. I think the players to a man have done everything they could to try and get a result.”