Moyes explains joke he had with Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford following Hull win

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David Moyes jokingly downplayed Jordan Pickford’s brilliant performance in Sunderland’s win over Hull City on Saturday.

Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford and team mates applaud fans after the match

David Moyes has suggested that he jokingly downplayed Jordan Pickford’s performance following Sunderland’s win over Hull City on Saturday, but insisted that it was due to how highly he rates the young goalkeeper, the Chronicle reports.

The Black Cats may have been relegated, but they still found a way to motivate themselves for the clash with Hull City, winning 2-0 in a game that saw the Tigers fall back into the bottom three following Swansea’s win over Everton later in the day.

Once again, Moyes’ men largely had Pickford to thank for the victory as he made a string of fine saves to help end Marco Silva’s tremendous undefeated run of home games for various clubs.

But Moyes jovially suggested that the 23-year-old almost deserves little praise following his fine display due to the standards he has set throughout the campaign.

“I had a joke with him afterwards and said ‘I don’t think any of those saves were difficult, Jordan’,” he said, as reported by the Chronicle.

“And they are pretty normal for him.

“It’s just an idea of the level where I think Jordan is.

“He is a big, big talent, he really is.”

As Moyes suggests, Pickford coming out of a fixture having earned plenty of praise has seemingly become a common occurrence this term, and their relegation would have surely been confirmed a lot sooner if it was not for the academy graduate.

Sunderland manager David Moyes

And while it is undoubtedly a long shot, Moyes must be hoping that the fact that he is number one for his boyhood club gives them a chance of holding onto him in the summer.

If the Premier League clubs offering him the chance to stay in the top flight already have at least one top stopper, then perhaps Sunderland will look to convince him that a year of first-team football in the Championship is better for his development than moving away and potentially risking sitting on another team’s bench.

However, if he continues impressing, it is difficult to imagine that any interested side will offer him anything other than the chance to be their number one.