JUST after Jermain Defoe had stroked in Sunderland’s second, the noise from the home fans cranked up a notch.

As the ‘David Moyes’ red and white army’ chant bellowed around the Stadium of Light, the man himself could have been forgiven for offering up a little smile.

It’s an old phrase, and one Moyes has been so familiar with over the years, but how quickly things can change in football. Even though Shinji Okazaki pulled one back minutes later, Sunderland held on to earn a third win from four matches.

That’s not bad form for a team that had opened the season with a winless ten-match run and been written off as relegation certainties by most, even at such an early stage of the campaign. They have also won back-to-back home games at the Stadium of Light for only the second time in three seasons.

Before the improved fortunes there were supporters who had started to turn on Moyes, even if the majority remained with him, so to hear the Sunderland supporters sing his name on Saturday must have been satisfying, even for a man of his experience.

Sunderland still have work to do. They remain in the bottom three despite collecting nine points from a possible 12 to climb off the foot of the table and within touching distance of edging above the dotted relegation line.

The turnaround is no fluke either. The victory at Bournemouth on Bonfire Night sparked them back to life and has really given everyone the confidence that results can be achieved. They have got better and better since then.

The home win over Hull was well earned, and even the defeat at Liverpool saw them push a free-scoring title contender close because of how well organised they were as a unit. Against Leicester, they performed as well in both directions as they have all season.

Moyes said “I think what the fans saw on the pitch, they had to respond to it. The great thing for me is that we were applauded off the pitch at half-time and we hadn’t finished the half that well. The supporters realised how well we had done and the effort being put in.”

Leicester, the defending champions, have struggled to recapture last season’s form but still had a threat with some fine attacking talent.

Sunderland were more positive from the first whistle and might have scored had Wes Morgan not got in the way of Victor Anichebe’s shot.

There were occasional efforts for Jordan Pickford to deal with, and a wasted headed chance for Jamie Vardy, but overall the home defence did the job, with Lamine Kone and Papy Djilobodji outstanding.

The latter, particularly, has endured a frustrating start to life on Wearside after his £8m move from Chelsea, but his defending, decision making and distribution was spot on from start to finish against the Foxes.

Sunderland might have impressed but still wondered if goals at the other end would arrive. They did after the forced half-time introduction of Jan Kirchhoff and Seb Larsson for the injured Steven Pienaar and Jason Denayer.

Both had a huge part to play in the win. Larsson’s corner was flicked on by Kirchhoff in the 64th minute and it ricocheted off Robert Huth before nestling in the bottom corner to earn the lead.

That paved the way for the victory and maintained Larsson’s record of not losing in 2016 while wearing a Sunderland shirt, made sweeter this time because it was his comeback after summer knee surgery.

Larsson said: “That doesn’t surprise me … no I’m only joking! It’s a good stat, even if I haven’t played too many games this year. In fact let’s not mention the fact that it is only eight games!

“The injury could have ended with me being out for the whole season. There was a real possibility of that if things hadn’t gone the way they did. You just have to keep a positive mindset.

“But the operation really helped me. It was a relief to get it done. I knew it would mean I would be out for quite a while but I couldn’t carry on the way I had been for the previous 18 months. The knee had been painful for that long and I needed it sorting.

“Once I woke up from surgery I felt actual relief. It was easy to keep the positivity about it.”

Larsson’s experience of the relegation run-ins of the previous years could be important for Moyes in the months ahead.

He slotted in seamlessly despite his lack of football and was quick to orchestrate play in the middle.

Another man shaping up to be crucial is Anichebe. It is no coincidence that the former Everton striker has started the three Sunderland games they have won and he was excellent again down the left.

Anichebe, a free agent arrival in September, bullied former Sunderland and Newcastle defender Danny Simpson throughout the game and his run beyond Simpson and centre teed up Sunderland’s second 13 minutes before the end. Duncan Watmore controlled and shot, Defoe fired in the loose ball.

Larsson said: “We have had a few good weeks now. We needed to as well after the start we had. That’s three wins in four but it has by no means put us out of trouble.

“But there’s new-found belief in the dressing room and the table looks a lot better now than it did a few weeks ago.”

Even though Okazaki reduced the deficit when he turned in Damarai Gray’s delivery with ten minutes to go, Sunderland held on to claim three points after Pickford made a stunning point-blank save from Wes Morgan.

Larsson said: “We never totally lost our belief. I think we have drawn a bit of strength from some of our previous campaigns when we have had very poor starts, although this one was probably a little worse than most.

“It is still so early in the season, I have heard people looking at things and giving us no chance. There might be some who still do that, it’s up to us to prove them wrong. There are plenty games for us to carry on to continue turning things around, there is plenty still to play for.”