Sunderland manager David Moyes has admitted that his side did not put in "a great performance" in their 1-0 victory over Watford at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.
A second-half Patrick van Aanholt strike handed the Black Cats all three points to move them off the bottom of the table and just one point from safety heading into Christmas.
"I think it was on the verge of must-win, to make sure we didn't get detached from others around us," Moyes told BBC Sport after the match. "The players stuck at it, even though it got ugly at times.
"We were slow getting out the blocks and to be fair to Watford, they started ok. We didn't press enough in the first half. Watford had a lot of set pieces and we tightened it up with 10 mins to go by bringing John O'Shea on. You never know if decisions like that are going to work. It did today.
"I told the players we had to win today. It wasn't a great performance but it was a winning performance, which always hides a multitude of sins."
Moyes visits former side Manchester United in Sunderland's next game on Boxing Day, ahead of a trip to Burnley on New Year's Eve.
Neil Wilkes
