DAVID MOYES has challenged Jack Rodwell to prove he can still boss a Premier League game after finally ending a 1,370-day wait for a victory – provided the Sunderland midfielder’s career has not been rocked by another injury set-back.

The Black Cats stunned supporters by rocking relegation rivals Crystal Palace with four goals in the first half on Saturday that enabled Moyes’ side to win a league game for the first time since before Christmas.

It was also the first time Rodwell has started a game in the top-flight that Sunderland have won, so has not celebrated victory since playing for Manchester City against West Brom in May 2013. That triumph was a staggering three years, eight months and 29 days ago; a run of 39 games in total, including every one of his previous 37 starts for Sunderland after his £10m switch from the Etihad Stadium.

The satisfaction of a comprehensive victory at Crystal Palace – secured after Sunderland had scored four in a first half without reply for the first time in the Premier League since December 1999 – was tempered slightly on a personal level by an injury blow.

Rodwell, whose career on Wearside has been blighted by injury, had to be replaced six minutes into the second half by new recruit Darron Gibson. He will be assessed further and there are fears he could be missing for a couple of weeks at least.

Moyes said: “He’s had terrible problems with injuries, and I’ve just got to hope that he’s not got a serious hamstring injury because he’s only just got back in the last three or four weeks. It’d be a real blow if we lose him.

“He’s got a different body now, so he has to think about how he plays. When he was young he had great energy. He’s still got a lot of energy but getting older he has to know how to do it.”

His importance is now far greater than at any other time at the club, given he has actually found some form – and Moyes appreciates that.

The Sunderland boss said: “I was actually going to mention his bad run but I thought ‘I won’t draw attention to it’. It has crossed my mind a few times, as a manager you’d be stupid not to look at that.

“But Jack’s actually played well in recent weeks, and I’d said ‘It’s about time you started to get a grip of games, you’re not a boy any more, get over it and start getting on.

“It’s about time you started to show that you’re a top player, and that you can be a top player. Grasp games’. Recently, he’s done that. He’s very good, comfortable on the ball and we want him to take more responsibility, to help make us play. I thought he tried that. I wasn’t losing patience with him, but I know Jack. It was about time he had to stand up.”

Rodwell was effective in what he did during an impressive first half from Sunderland which saw them take advantage of some woeful defending from Sam Allardyce’s side.

Lamine Kone’s volley was the opening goal in the ninth minute before three goals in the final stages of the first half from Didier Ndong and Jermain Defoe, two, sealed a crucial three points in the fight for survival.

Sunderland, with their biggest away win in the Premier League since October 1999, had to do more defending after the restart because they had already effectively got the game sewn up.

Moyes, who also hopes John O’Shea’s hamstring and Adnan Januzaj’s cramp problem is not serious, said: “We had to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes and let Palace into the game quickly, when they could generate the atmosphere, which they do. 

“They’ve got a great atmosphere here. We just wanted to try and keep it calm. We’d scored our goals. I thought we could score on the counter-attack, and we nearly did a couple of times. I thought if we were patient enough, we’d get that.

“We expected them to make changes but tried to prepare the best we could for it, so we did a good job of containing them. The big thing was that we lost a few players to injury. I wasn’t keen to make the changes so quickly, I was forced into it.”

Southampton travel to Sunderland this Saturday with Moyes aware they could climb out of the relegation zone with another victory – after a Palace win made sweeter by the fact it was inflicted on Allardyce and old-boy Patrick van Aanholt. 

Moyes said: “It was a great performance by the players. We’ve not had many like this. We’ll enjoy it, we’ve got Southampton next and we’ve got to go and see if we can do it again, see if we can get the Stadium of Light behind us.

“I didn’t see that (van Aanholt appearance) as an extra motivation because they’re all good friends with Pat. I just felt that his sale was done for the right reasons for the club, for the Financial Fair Play ceiling and so that we could bring players in.

“I think Bryan Oviedo played really well in his position. He might be a pick for man of the match, mainly because he was up against Wilfried Zaha, who he kept quiet for most of the game.”