SUNDERLAND successfully kick-started their season when they won at Bournemouth prior to the international break, but David Moyes admits the Black Cats will be “back to square one” if they fail to follow up with another victory against relegation rivals Hull City this afternoon.

Moyes’ side claimed their first league win at the 11th time of asking when goals from Victor Anichebe and Jermain Defoe secured a 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium, but they remain six points adrift of safety ahead of today’s game against another of the sides in the relegation zone.

Their preparations hardly got off to the best of starts yesterday when skipper Lee Cattermole was ruled out for at least four months following hip surgery in the United States, and Moyes was forced to concede that fellow midfielder Jan Kirchhoff is still not fit enough to return to the first team.

Hull have their own injury problems to contend with though, with Mike Phelan down to 17 fit senior players, and Moyes is determined to remain upbeat after carrying some much-needed momentum into the start of the international break.

The performance at Bournemouth was easily Sunderland’s best of the season, although Moyes concedes it will have counted for nothing if his players revert to their former standards this afternoon.

“I think this is a really big game,” said the Sunderland boss. “For different reasons, there are big games at the top of the table with Manchester United vs Arsenal, but this is a really big game at our end of the table.

“I’m aware of it, the players are aware of it and we have to build on the good result and the good performance we had at Bournemouth - the great spirit we had amongst the players and the supporters.

“We want to try and build on that and gain a bit of momentum. If we lose, it would feel as though we are back to square one a bit, so we have to make sure we don’t lose. We know how important getting a good result is.”

At the start of the international break, Moyes had been hoping to have both Kirchhoff and Cattermole available for today’s game.

Kirchhoff has returned to training, but Moyes is reluctant to pitch the German straight back into the first team and is instead set to select him for Monday’s Under-23s game at Manchester United.

The news on Cattermole is much less positive, with the midfielder having undergone surgery in the United States.

The 28-year-old, who has made just three first-team appearances this season, has been struggling with a long-standing problem that was first attributed to a hernia and then thought to be related to his back.

However, subsequent scans revealed a torn cartilage in his hip, and he flew to the States for an operation earlier this week.

He will be sidelined for at least four months, and there is already a question mark about whether he will play again this season.

“Lee had an operation in America on Monday on a torn cartilage in his hip and will be out for four months,” confirmed Moyes. “He’s out there just now, coming back in the next day or two, I think.

“It’s a big blow because we have had hernias, we have had epidurals, we have had other things done, but by all accounts we have found a tear in his cartilage in his hip which has now been repaired.”

Cattermole’s absence is a major blow, as much because of the midfielder’s influence in the dressing room as his performances on the pitch.

The Teesssider has played a pivotal role in a number of Sunderland’s successful recent survival battles, having moved to Wearside in a £6m switch from Wigan Athletic in 2009.

In Cattermole’s absence, other players will have to come to the fore, and Moyes is hoping Duncan Watmore’s spectacular midweek goal for England Under-21s will help spur him to a run of improved performances at club level.

“Goals have got to become part of Duncan’s game,” said Moyes. “Goals, and creating goals. He is a threat, he puts the opposition on the back foot.

“His effort and his work for the team have been colossal for us at the moment, whether it be going forward or helping us out defensively when needed. But getting goals is what we really want him to do.”