Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet has insisted that he still needs time to transform the team following last season's relegation battle.

The Black Cats managed to survive in the Premier League last season, and despite losing just once in seven games so far in this campaign, Poyet believes that there is still a long way to go.

"We need time," the Northern Echo quotes Poyet as saying. "We have players still learning to do certain things that we want to become natural for them.

"For that, you need to work on it every day. That's what we're working on. I can't put a timeframe on how long it will take to do, but that's what we ask for, time, because we've got an idea and we think it works."

The North-East outfit secured five draws before earning their first win in a 3-1 triumph over Stoke City before the international break.

Written by
Danielle Joynson