Liverpool's Jordan Henderson backs Sam Allardyce at Sunderland

Jordan Henderson says Sam Allardyce can keep Sunderland in the Premier League but is only interested in securing three points on his return to the Stadium of Light.

The 25-year-old and his team-mates head to Wearside on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports 1, determined to build on their 1-0 victory over Leicester by condemning the Black Cats to a fifth successive defeat.

Liverpool skipper Henderson came through the ranks at Sunderland before a £16m switch to Anfield in June 2011, but only has one aim in mind this week.

Asked about Allardyce, he said: "He's a good enough manager to keep them up, but the only thing that will be on my mind will be to get the three points."

The win over the Foxes was Liverpool's first in five attempts in all competitions and followed a 3-0 defeat at promoted Watford.

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Henderson admitted the Reds had to play clever football to see off Leicester, and he is expecting to have to do much the same at Sunderland.

"We need to be more clever. With the conditions at Watford and the wind, we tried to over-play at times and that sort of killed us," he said. "We need to play more clever football, which is what we did against Leicester by playing in behind their defence more, and that gave us a platform.

"We will have to be clever again at Sunderland because it will be a difficult game for us, so we need to make sure we do the same as we did against Leicester.

"We need to find different solutions in games and make sure we win the battle."

Watch Sunderland v Liverpool, live on Sky Sports 1, from 7pm on Wednesday.