AS Sunderland prepare to head into tonight’s depressing derby at the Riverside Stadium with one foot already in the Championship, under-fire David Moyes thinks any manager would have struggled to stay out of trouble on Wearside this season.

The Black Cats are an incredible 12 points adrift of safety, albeit with two games in hand on fourth from bottom Hull City, and a large number of fans have turned on Moyes because of the situation the club has found itself in.

Those supporters feel the former Everton and Manchester United boss has had his own part to play in Sunderland’s woeful showing in the Premier League this season, even though there have been mitigating factors too.

Sunderland are struggling financially under the ownership of Ellis Short – who would be happy to sell up – while Moyes took over late in pre-season from England-bound Sam Allardyce. There have also been crippling injury problems and a constant struggle against relegation over recent seasons.

It is such factors which the Scot feels have made things difficult – and that would have been the case for any one in charge of Sunderland. He is, though, adamant that brighter times are ahead under his watch.

Asked how much Sunderland’s failings are down to him or the previous failings, Moyes said: "I think there is a lot of that (previous), there is a big bit of all that to be taken into consideration.

“You couldn't take any one step in isolation, every bit would be having to be judged. What we were like in the summer, what we were like in January, where we are, where it was in the years before, all that would need to be taken into consideration.

"I still hope we're going to stay in the division and whichever manager was in this job would be finding it just as difficult as we are finding it.”

He added: “It would be wrong to talk about David Moyes and his reputation. I think you would look at it and say that Sunderland has been a difficult job for any manager to come and take.

“I think it’s more to do with ‘is this a difficult post for any manager?’ But it will change and it will improve. It has proven difficult for many managers, not just David Moyes. A lot of managers have found this a difficult gig.”

Sections of supporters turned on him during the 2-2 draw with West Ham United 11 days ago, and he can understand the frustrations going into a game with a Boro team also heading to the Championship.

Moyes said: “I’m a football supporter and they’re entitled to voice how they feel. Who do they voice it against? The manager, of course, he takes that responsibility. That’s the way football is and that’s part of the job if you’re a manager.

“I have had a lot of really good times in football but on the journey, there will be bad times. I do not know if it is the same in sports journalism. It does affect you because you’re losing, nobody wants to be losing. We need to turn things around and get wins, and I know that will come.

“It will definitely get better. We will definitely win games. That will change, no doubt about that. I believe it will change this season. There is no question there at all that it will turn around - I hope it’s soon.”

Moyes went on to insist he has “no regrets at all” about taking over from Allardyce, but he would love to end an awful first season on a high by giving fans something to cheer about.

He said: “We have not been able to give supporters enough to see that full potential. Our performances haven’t given us a chance to see the stadium in full flow. But I think there are many managers who haven’t been able to do that.

“There's still a chance we can stay up and while there's a chance, we are going to try to take it. If we can do it at Middlesbrough, we have another chance against Bournemouth.

“We are not stupid, but we are in there fighting and think we have a chance. The players are in there fighting. Realistically, the best thing to do is win the next game, then it gives us a chance. Every defeat affects us. We don't have enough games left to think we can let games slip by.”

Sunderland boast the only win from a combined 32 games played by the two clubs in the Premier League since mid-December; a staggering statistic which one of the Tees-Wear rivals will hope ends tonight.

Moyes said: “It’s a derby and you never know how they are going to go. It could be tense or it could be the opposite which could make for a really good game.

“There is a level where we both have to try to win it. Whether that makes for a good or poor game, I do not really know. Derbies are always games where you are never quite sure where they will go.”