Sunderland boss David Moyes down but not out as last manager standing in Premier League relegation battle
DAVID MOYES is the last manager standing in the Premier League relegation battle.
And he reckons that is a big boost to Sunderland’s latest great escape bid.
Aitor Karanka’s sacking by Middlesbrough means the rock-bottom Black Cats are the only club in the bottom six not to axe their manager so far this season.
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Crystal Palace, Hull, Leicester and Swansea — twice — all fired bosses in a desperate bid to stay up.
Out went Alan Pardew (Palace), Mike Phelan (Hull), Claudio Ranieri (Leicester), Bob Bradley and Francesco Guidolin (Swansea).
But for the first time in six years, Sunderland have stuck with the same manager — despite going into Saturday's clash with Burnley without a home win in three months.
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Moyes said: “There are a lot of good managers who lost their job which is sad.
“But for me, having stability at a football club would always outweigh changing. If you want to build a club, you've got to have continuity.
“But I realise I need to win games and I don’t take things for granted.
“Football management has changed. There are less and less people who will get the sort of time that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have had.
“The new breed of manager probably expects not to be in a job for an awful long time.”
Moyes will watch from behind the sofa when Jermain Defoe makes his England comeback next week.
The 34-year-old returns to international fold for the first time since 2013 against Germany and Lithuania.
But Sunderland's injury list is stacking up after German midfielder Jan Kirchhoff was ruled out for the rest of the season with knee trouble.
So Moyes is keeping everything crossed for his 14-goal top scorer.
The Scot, 53, added: “I’ve never pulled anyone out of an international. It’s a prestige thing to have your players with their countries.
“But we’ve got to hope Jermain doesn’t come back injured.”