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Cape Town - It's win at all costs for Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce, who believes their opponents in Saturday's relegation clash at the Stadium of Light will be happy with a draw.
With only a handful of matches left in the season, and his side 4 points behind 17th-placed Norwich, Sam Allardyce is fully aware of the significance of Saturday's match between the two relegation-threatened teams.
"The pressure is on us," Allardyce said. "Norwich wouldn't be too disappointed in a draw, because one more game ticks by.
"They'll still be four points ahead of us with five games left, instead of six. But we both want to win."
Norwich is the form team going into the clash, having taken six points in their last three matches, comfortably ahead of Sunderland's two. In fact, Sunderland haven't won a match since their victory over Manchester United seven matches ago.
"Their results have been better than ours recently with one draw, two wins and one defeat. We've had just too many draws," Allardyce added.
All of these factors makes the fixture an absolute must-win for the Black Cats. Narrowing the gap between the two sides to a single point will be an immense boost for the club and go a long way towards the much-coveted 17th spot in the standings.
"It won't matter how we play as long as we win. If we have to win ugly, let's win ugly," Allardyce said. "Within the rules of the game, let's do whatever we have to do to win."
