Sunderland AFC manager, David Moyes has defended the club's decision to travel across the Atlantic to New York on a break despite the side's deep relegation troubles.
Stand by your decisions
Things looked to be on the on the up with the draw against Tottenham and the win over Crystal Palace, but the Black Cats were brought back to earth with a thud after the 4-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday.
The announcement of the four-day trip to the 'Big Apple' was announced after the win over Palace, but came under the scrutiny after the defeat to Claude Puel's side.
Sunderland are one of a number of club's out of the FA Cup taking a break, and Moyes defended the decision their trip to the United States.
"It doesn’t change anything," Moyes told the Sunderland Echo. “As a manager, you make decisions, you try and lead your team and football club and do the right things.
“You have to stand by the decisions," the Scotsman stated. "It won’t change [our plans]. Sometimes things like that help.
“That’s part of doing the job," he admitted. "Sometimes doing something different helps."
“We’ve a really tough game our next game," Moyes added. "It didn’t matter what we were doing, training or going away, we’ve got a really tough game (at Everton on February 25) next .”
Big opportunity missed
Saturday seemed a perfect opportunity for Moyes' side to get something against a side who hadn't performed of late, especially considering they went into the clash off the back of 4-0 victory.
A brace from Manolo Gabbiadini, Jason Denayer own goal and another from Shane Long saw them slip to defeat, and Moyes admitted that it was a opportunity missed for his side.
“This was a big opportunity for us," he conceded. “My biggest disappointment is there was an opportunity here to get out of the bottom three.
"Build on great results against Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace," the 53-year-old reiterated. "A chance to build on that.
"Southampton crept back into the game," Moyes concluded. "And got the goals when they did.”
Sunderland AFC will take on Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, February 25 with kick-off at 3pm GMT.