Allardyce targets four wins for Sunderland survival

Sam Allardyce believes Sunderland need just four wins to ensure their status in the Premier League next season.

Sunderland drew 1-1 away to rivals Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday as the two struggling clubs vie for survival. 

Allardyce and Co. are two points away from safety with eight matches remaining, and the 61-year-old is confident twelve points is enough to avoid relegation to the Championship.

“We need four wins from the last eight, so it’s now must-win rather than draw. It is too many draws rather than wins,” he said.

“The turning point in the game was Rob Elliot’s save on Patrick van Aanholt in the second half, that would have been a great time for us to kill off Newcastle, but a brilliant piece of goalkeeping kept them in it.”

Allardyce added: “I think Newcastle were fortunate to get a point from the game, going off their performance and the amount of chances we created. We are disappointed in the dressing room; it almost feels like a loss.

“I thought performance wise we looked strong, we’re not a side that looks like we’re going to get beat, but we need to start turning these draws into wins.

“We are four games unbeaten and we’ve got a difficult run ahead but we need to start turning these performances into results.”