Moyes' Respect For O'Neill

Blues hope to continue their great record against Black Cats

David Moyes hopes his good record at Sunderland trumps the ‘Martin O’Neill Factor’ when his side travel to the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day.

The Blues are unbeaten in 14 games against the Black Cats – winning a staggering 11 of those.

But this time they face a team reinvigorated by the arrival of new boss O’Neill.

The Ulsterman inherited a side languishing in the depths of the division but has quickly added fresh impetus by winning two of his first three games.

Moyes and O’Neill have not tangled since the days when the latter was in charge of Aston Villa.

And the Everton manager said: “Martin O’Neill has gone in and already put his footprint on it.

“We all know Martin is a really good manager and I think Sunderland have a very good squad. I actually think it would have been a hard game whether Steve Bruce or Martin O’Neill had been in charge – albeit we have quite good record at Sunderland – which we can hopefully make count.”

Speaking more generally Moyes admitted he was pleased to see O’Neill back in football management – and backed him to transform Sunderland’s fortunes.

“I think everyone is glad to see him back,” he added. “Everyone respects him as a manager and nobody has a bad word to say about him.

“People like his interviews and the way he speaks about football. He is at a big club – it is a big job at a big club.

“He has a chairman who has done well in supporting all his managers financially and if they give that to Martin then they will be a force.”