Tuesday 16 May 2017 23:34, UK
David Moyes has suggested that Sunderland will keep highly-rated goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, declaring "he is ours" after the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
There have been reports that several Premier League clubs are interested in signing Pickford, 23, after Sunderland's relegation to the Championship.
And he did his reputation no harm with another fine display at the Emirates on Tuesday, saving 11 of Arsenal's 13 shots on target.
"Everybody is well aware that I've said he is one of the best goalkeepers in the country," Sunderland manager Moyes told Sky Sports.
"He makes saves and is a bit old-fashioned in many ways in what he does…because of that he is our goalkeeper, he is under contract and there will be people that want him, but at the moment he's all ours."
Having been relegated a few weeks ago after defeat to Bournemouth, Sunderland had little to play for at the Emirates, but still produced a dogged performance to frustrate Arsenal until late on.
"The difference in class showed, but the commitment and effort from my players was there all the way," said Moyes. "We were unlucky. We had one or two chances ourselves and we had to keep them out a few times as well, but I couldn't really fault the players.
"We set out to stop them and contain them and I thought for long periods we did that.
"We needed to get the first goal, but I could say that eight or nine times this season, if we had got the first goal it would have changed things...If we could have got the first goal, and we had one or two opportunities, maybe we could have had made Arsenal panic a bit more."
