O´Neill talks up ´important´ win

Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill was delighted with his side’s ‘important’ 3-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday.

Goals from Sebastian Larsson, Adam Johnson and James McClean saw Sunderland to the comfortable win at the Stadium of Light.

O’Neill admitted there was still pressure on his team despite moving six points clear of the English Premier League relegation zone.

“There’s always pressure. The win was important for us. I think anybody in the bottom half of the table still has to be looking anxiously over their shoulder,” the Northern Irishman said.

“But it was an important win for us. I think it’s our fourth in seven games in the Premier League and in the context of things, it was good to win.”

Senegal defender Kader Mangane will link up with Sunderland in the coming days in hope of securing a loan deal, O’Neill said.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said it was almost opposite to the display in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the FA Cup.

“It was really an all-round performance that makes life extremely difficult for me to accept, the performance I have seen based on how well we played just seven days ago against Manchester United,” Allardyce said.

“The level of difference in performance between that game and this is just staggering.

“All-round last week, we were absolutely brilliant in all departments. This week, we were poor in all departments – hence we were beaten comprehensively by a team who deserved to beat us.”

Allardyce said he would be looking to add a defender to his squad before the January transfer window closed.

“The big blow for me is not having enough defenders at the moment. There are too many of my defenders injured,” he said.

“We have had too many injuries recently, but the injury situation with defenders with George McCartney not being here, Joey O’Brien not being here and James Collins getting injured today means that the defensive side of our team is particularly weak and short of numbers now.

“I am really going to have to go and try to strengthen that area in the next few days.”