DAVID MOYES has admitted that Sunderland will still face a battle to bring in the right players to boost the fight for Premier League survival even if the club’s owner Ellis Short agrees to some much-needed spending.

The struggling Black Cats have been rocked by further blows ahead of this afternoon’s visit of title chasing Liverpool to the Stadium of Light, both in terms of morale and injuries.

Sunderland were crushed 4-1 at Burnley on New Year’s Eve and it was also a defeat that came at the cost of losing in-form forward Victor Anichebe to a hamstring injury.

The Nigerian looked in some discomfort as he hobbled away from Turf Moor and there are fears he has pulled it, which could mean weeks or months depending on the severity after further assessment.

Throw in the fact defender Lamine Kone, who suffered his own injury after crashing into an advertising board, is due to head to the Africa Cup of Nations with Wahbi Khazri and Didier Ndong, and Sunderland’s relatively small squad is becoming more threadbare.

The heavy defeat at Burnley led to supporters in the away end chanting ‘are you watching Ellis Short?’ as a direct dig at the chairman following suggestions from the manager and boardroom that there is no money available for strengthening.

Moyes needs help, but he worries about the calibre of player he can bring in with Sunderland languishing in the bottom three after entering 2017 and a date with Liverpool.

He said: “Ellis will speak with me and I’ll speak with Ellis, I’ve got no doubt. We’ll see what we can do. It’s difficult. It will even be difficult to attract the players we need to say, ‘We need you.’

He added: “We’ve always said if we could do, we would. Everyone knows we’ve got restraints. I think with what we’ve got everybody would say of course Sunderland need help so let’s hope maybe something happens and we’re able to do that.

“I think the supporters have known the situation. The club have made it clear. I spoke with Ellis and he’s saying ‘let’s see what’s out there and maybe we can try to do something’.”

It would appear that any deals Sunderland do try will be either loans or freebies, provided they fall into the club’s wage structure at a time when they already have debts in excess of £140m and Short is looking to sell the club.

The worrying situation at the half-way stage of the season, though, has not been helped by the Anichebe blow, after he was forced off just before the break at Turf Moor when his hamstring weakened as he challenged for the ball.

There was also a non-appearance of Jason Denayer with a similar problem and Moyes – already without key players such as Jordan Pickford, Lee Cattermole, Jan Kirchhoff and others - decided not to take any risks because of the lengthy list of absentees they face this month.

Moyes said: “It looks like Victor’s pulled his hamstring. I’ve not checked with the medical team how good or how bad it is. We just need to see how he is.

“Jason Denayer felt his hamstring on Friday but we’ve had him scanned and there’s nothing showing on the scan. I’m hoping it could be he will be OK, but he just didn’t think he could do it. That was a blow because we could have used him at the back as well. We missed him in midfield as well.”

Given the way Sunderland collapsed at Burnley, a visit of Liverpool would not appear to be the ideal way to start the New Year – and he knows that the mistakes which were apparent at Turf Moor need to be knocked on the head.

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone, back in the side for the injured Pickford, was beaten four times and didn’t look confident, while the defence had far too many gaps, which allowed Andre Gray to grab a hat-trick. Ashley Barnes also found the net courtesy of a penalty conceded when Seb Larsson barged over Scott Arfield.

Moyes, whose side pulled one back through Jermain Defoe, said: “Sometimes football can throw things up. We have to find a way of overcoming Liverpool, who have got a lot of strengths at the moment.

“I think there were chances for things to be saved (by Vito Mannone) and hopefully he would admit that as well. The second goal well, he didn’t need to come and get involved. But there was more involved in the goals than just the goalkeeper.

“We’re going to have to defend much better. It’ll be a different type of game but we’ve got to quickly get ourselves ready and prepare."