DAVID MOYES has defended his decision to stick with Sunderland’s planned four-day break in New York – even though his players produced their worst display of the season at the weekend.

The Black Cats remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table after they crashed to a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of a Southampton side that were recording their first away win since the middle of December.

Some managers might have ordered their players straight back into training for a double session in the wake of such a humiliating setback. Instead, Moyes will fly to America with his squad later today for a trip that will see Sunderland’s players watching basketball and ice hockey matches as they take advantage of a 14-day gap in their playing schedule caused by their FA Cup exit in the third round.

Understandably, a number of supporters have questioned the validity of the Stateside sojourn, with hundreds taking to social media to urge club officials to call off the trip and instead donate the planned cost to charity.

Moyes is mindful of the criticism, but having organised the break before his side’s 4-0 win at Crystal Palace, he does not want to change his plans because of one admittedly embarrassing defeat.

“Managers have to make decisions, prepare teams and lead,” said the Sunderland boss, whose side will return to action with a trip to Everton in 12 days’ time. “That’s part of doing the job, and sometimes doing something different helps.

“It doesn’t change anything (about the New York trip). As a manager, you try to make decisions, and you lead your football club and try to do the right things. You have to stand by your decisions. There’ll be no change.”

As well as watching some US sport, Sunderland’s players will also take in some of the New York tourist sites, including Ground Zero. They will do some running in Central Park, but their training schedule will not be strenuous, with Moyes prioritising team bonding over intensive sessions on the pitch or in the gym.

Team spirit certainly appeared to be a problem as Sunderland’s players conceded two goals in the final two minutes at the weekend, and with three signings having been added to the squad in January, this week’s trip will at least provide the new additions with an opportunity to fully integrate themselves into the group.

Steven Pienaar was at Goodison Park when Moyes took his Everton players to New York, and expects this week’s break to be beneficial.

“It’s very important to be with your colleagues off the field as well, and get that bond because what you do off the field is very important to what you do on it,” said Pienaar, who was a second-half substitute at the weekend. “Hopefully, it will benefit the group off the field.

“Everyone has their own interests so we’ll see what we do. It’s up to the manager what the schedule’s going to be like. I’m not a basketball fan myself, and there’s no rugby in America, but I’ll do whatever the other players do.

“Obviously, it’s not a holiday, but the aim is to get everyone pulling in one direction. You need to get to know your players off the field – that’s really important at this stage.”

Saturday’s capitulation came just seven days after Sunderland had recorded their biggest win of the season at Crystal Palace, but Moyes was always concerned about the strength of Southampton’s attacking threat.

Manolo Gabbiadini’s double made it three goals in two games since the Italian moved to St Mary’s in a £17m switch from Napoli, and Sunderland were unable to cope with the pace and movement of Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond and Ryan Bertrand in particular.

“I saw that (our) players were in a really good mood, really buoyant,” said Moyes.  “But I also knew Southampton are probably, outside the top four or five and Everton, one of the best footballing teams in the league.

“I knew that if I was going to play in a cup final in my next game, I’d want to play out of my skin to make sure the manager had no choice but to pick me. I always thought it was a really difficult game for us.”