Sunderland AFC midfielder, Jan Kirchhoff has said that his manager, David Moyes was right to criticise his players after their 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Right to complain

The Black Cats search for their first league win of the season continued on Saturday as they welcomed Alan Pardew's side, and this was arguably the worst of the lot.

They looked to be sailing to their first three points with a Jermain Defoe brace giving them a two-goal cushion. However, goals from Joe Ledley, James McArthur and a late Christian Benteke saw the points snatched away.

This proved much to the dismay of Moyes, who publicly criticised his players after the game; Kirchhoff admitted that his coach had the right to do that.

"It is 100 per cent fair to say that we have to take responsibility," he told The Mirror. "We get prepared well before the game and we know what to do. We know how to defend and what to do."

Kirchhoff concluded, "But we didn't do it properly," and firmly admitted "We really have to stay together and communicate better to get one clear idea about how we want to play a football game."

Above: Lamine Kone in action during Sunderland's 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace | Photo: Getty Images
Above: Lamine Kone in action during Sunderland's 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace | Photo: Getty Images

Lacking concentration

The Black Cats will welcome West Bromwich Albion to the Stadium of Light this weekend, and defender Lamine Kone, has admitted that their concentration will need to improve if they are to get their first league win.

"The problem? Maybe it is down to concentration,” Kone told the Chronicle. “What happened, it is not normal. We made it difficult for ourselves [by conceding within a minute of going 2-0 in front]. We have to now quickly look to win the next game against West Brom this weekend.”

Sunderland AFC will take on West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, October 1 with kick-off at 3pm BST.

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.