The Black Cats will run out at Carrow Road having seen a run of four successive draws ended by last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by champions elect Leicester, but acutely aware that they have squandered match-winning opportunities having got themselves to within minutes of beating Southampton and Newcastle and failing to see off West Brom, but Allardyce has learned to handle the frustration.
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Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce says Premier League relegation would damage the club more than his own career.
“All the pressure is on us because we are the team that’s trying to catch up from behind”.
“We talk about systems a lot, but it is how you perform in that system that counts”, he said.
Sunderland are now four points adrift of the Canaries, and safety, with a game in hand, but they know just how crucial Saturday’s encounter between the two clubs could prove. “You could leave him out for eight weeks and he could still run a marathon the next day”.
“We have to win against Norwich, there’s no question of a draw”.
“He added: “If we can do that we can all come home very happy and look forward to the next game”.
He continued: “We all know the facts, points and everything like that ahead of the game on Saturday, so the boys need to be focussed and do the best they can”. We haven’t been clinical enough to put two or three in the net, even though we’ve created the chances. 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.
“I’ve played around with it a bit and got them thinking a little bit”.
Norwich went down to a damaging 1-0 defeat away at Crystal Palace at the weekend and have a goal difference of minus 22, compared to Sunderland’s minus 21.
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A payment dispute with his former agent meant Emmanuel Eboue was unable to join Sunderland after being handed a one-year Federation Internationale de Football Association ban but Allardyce revealed he has not given up on the former Arsenal defender making the move to the Stadium of Light.
