Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce: 'We have to improve our displays'

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has called on his players to improve the level of their performance from their win over Newcastle United ahead of their clash against Everton.

The Black Cats secured their first victory of the season in the Wear-Tyne derby to lift them off the bottom of the Premier League as Adam Johnson, Billy Jones and Steven Fletcher got on the scoresheet.

However, Allardyce feels that his side have to raise the level of their game to build of their win to move out out of the relegation zone.

He told the club's official website: "There has been a great satisfaction around the training ground this week. That's because of the relief of winning our first game of the season and keeping up that record against our local rivals, which is a pretty miraculous achievement.

"I hope it spurs the lads on to greater things and my job is to make sure they don't rest on their laurels, take it from there and get better and better.

"Winning the game was the most important thing last weekend but our performance overall wasn't the best one we've given his season, so lifting the performance and maintaining the result is what we're looking for the players to achieve in the coming games to lift us up the league."

Sunderland are 19th in the Premier League ahead of their clash against Everton at Goodison Park.