Sunderland manager David Moyes has admitted that this season’s recruitment is the main reason they have failed to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The Black Cats’ relegation to the Championship was confirmed on Saturday following their 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at home.

Sunderland went into the game knowing they had to equal or better Hull City’s result, but the Tigers were able to secure a draw against Southampton.

In the last four seasons, Sunderland have been able to produce miraculous escapes but their relegation was confirmed with four games to play.

Moyes, who only arrived in the summer, managed to sign 13 players in two transfer windows but he was hoping for more funding from the club’s board.

He has been forced to use the free transfer and loan markets and the former Everton coach is adamant that is what cost his team dear.

He told the Sunderland Echo: “If you look at what we have been able to bring in – there has been less this year, and that has obviously affected it.

“You probably need to look back to the start of the season to see where we needed to make the recruitment better, but time was so short and that was where the difficulty was.”

Sunderland will now be playing for pride for the rest of the season and Moyes takes his team to Hull for their next match.

The Tigers are 1.44 favourites to win, with the draw 4.20, while Sunderland are priced at odds of 7.00.