A weary David Moyes has finally lost patience with his Sunderland players as he launched an astonishing attack on both their attitude and ability following relegation.

Moyes admitted it had been hard for him to come into work after the dreadful capitulation against Swansea and is no longer in the mood to defend those who have repeatedly gone through the motions this season.

After Alan Shearer had called Sunderland’s players “disgraceful, lazy and pathetic” on Match of the Day, Moyes could only agree with the former Newcastle United captain.

Privately, Moyes has fumed about the attitude of some of his players for months and has talked of the poisonous atmosphere created in the dressing room by those who no longer want to play for the club. Now, finally, in the build-up to Sunderland's trip to Arsenal, he has hinted at some of those things in public.

“Everyone has seen it has been a difficult dressing room all year,” Moyes said. “I came here knowing exactly what the task was going to be. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen behind the scenes. I have defended myself, I have had a great win record wherever I have been, and this is the only anomaly. But I have got to say it hasn’t happened for quite a few managers here, it has been that way for quite a while.