MARTIN O’Neill has emphasised that it is imperative that Sunderland start winning matches as soon as possible.

O’Neill acknowledged that the team has ground to make up, but that morale remained high. He has signed a three-year contract with the club,

“Obviously we’re in a little bit of trouble . . . We need to start winning some matches and the sooner we do that the better,” he said.

Having trained with the team he is optimistic. “In terms of players there’s a very good spirit among them. We had a training session today and they were very positive.”