Sam Allardyce admits pressure will be on Sunderland at Norwich
Thursday 14 April 2016 16:49, UK
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce admits the pressure is on them ahead of Saturday’s relegation clash with fellow strugglers Norwich.
The Black Cats go into the game at Carrow Road four points adrift of their opponents but with a game in hand on Alex Neil's side.
Victory for Sunderland would leave their fate in their own hands, with the two clubs plus Newcastle battling it out for 17th place in the table and with it Premier League survival.
"It's a much bigger game than it should have been, in terms of our desperate need for points," said Allardyce.
"All the pressure is on us because we are the team that's trying to catch up from behind.
"When it's this late in the season, with so few games, we have to try and absorb that pressure and produce a performance that's good enough to beat Norwich, and reverse the pressure.
"We can get within one point with a game in hand, which would make life easier for us and more difficult from them. It will be two from us three.
Performances have merited more points but we haven't got them so can't rely on that anymore. We need a simple game plan to come out as the dominant force.
"Only one will make enough points to survive and the other two will be relegated. This club has done it before. Others have achieved a momentous recovery.
"It can be done but really, at this stage, you want as few points as possible to catch up on. A win would put us one point behind Norwich.
"We should have had three wins on the trot. We have been seconds away from winning three or four and only losing one or drawing one from the last five or six.
"Performances have merited more points but we haven't got them so can't rely on that anymore. We need a simple game plan to come out as the dominant force.
"We've still not achieved enough clean sheets. If we can get three or four in the last six I think we will stay up. We haven't been clinical enough to put two or three in the net, even though we've created the chances.
"As a professional football club, people expect us to be able to cope with that pressure. But it's a huge amount on the players and you can often tell about the body language and in their eyes, about how you react as a manager and calm them down.
"It's the pre build-up and how those nerves can flow into the game, and if the first action doesn't go as they like, it can determine how the rest of the 80 minutes or so are played."
A payment dispute with his former agent meant Emmanuel Eboue was unable to join Sunderland after being handed a one-year FIFA ban but Allardyce revealed he has not given up on the former Arsenal defender making the move to the Stadium of Light.
"I am going to speak to him today [Thursday], and I'll get an update. Phone calls aren't picked up these days, are they? I'll get back to him," he added.
"There's still a chance, depending on whether he's cleared up the situation or not."
