Sunday 22 January 2017 14:15, UK
David Moyes sympathised with Sunderland supporters after the club's latest defeat on Saturday at the hands of West Brom.
First-half goals from Darren Fletcher and Chris Brunt were enough to give the Baggies a 2-0 win, a result which leaves the Black Cats bottom of the table.
Sunderland are missing a number of first-choice players due to injury, while others are away at the Africa Cup of Nations, and Moyes empathises with the club's beleaguered supporters, who booed the team off at half-time and full-time.
"I totally understand them," Moyes said. "I'm a supporter myself, maybe if we had three points more we might be where people would expect us to be.
"But we are not that far away. A win would have taken us out of the relegation zone.
"The performances recently have not been how we would have liked - and we are the first to admit that - but there are mitigating circumstances for that.
"Sunderland fans have been in this position before. If any fans know about this situation it is our supporters in recent years."
Jordan Pickford, Jan Kirchhoff, Steven Pienaar, Duncan Watmore, Paddy McNair, Lynden Gooch and Lee Cattermole are all unavailable while Lamine Kone, Wahbi Khazri and Didier Ndong are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
