Allardyce to demand more from Sunderland

Sam Allardyce is not resting on his laurel’s after leading Sunderland to a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United in the Wear-Tyne derby.

Sunderland went into the game without a Premier League win this season but corrected that by registering their sixth-straight victory over their local rivals, who played the second half with 10 men following Fabricio Coloccini’s dismissal.

Allardyce also became the fourth successive Sunderland boss record their first win in charge of the club by beating Newcastle.

“We’ve won and kept the record going – six wins on the trot – and the fourth manager to beat our local rivals in his second match,” Allardyce, a former Newcastle manager, said on Sunday.

“I find that a bit of a bizarre statistic but it’s very nice to have kept it going. The pressure on us was enormous with 10 games without a win, pressure to beat our local rivals.

“With the odds of winning six on the trot you tend to think that somewhere along the line you’re not going to do that.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do – we’ve got to get a lot better than we were today.

“Well done to the lads and we got the victory but we’ve got to play a lot better than our performance today if we’re going to get out of trouble and into the mid-table.

“I’m going to be pushing the lads to improve.”

Allardyce singled out goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon for his role in the victory, after he made a number of saves to keep Newcastle at bay.

“[It is] a huge three points for us and a massive clean sheet. When we need him at 1-0, Costel made a fantastic save just after half-time,” he added.

“That’s what we need. We need everyone on top form and I’m absolutely delighted for the lads that we’ve got our first win under our belt.

“I dreamt it last night. I thought it’d be hugely difficult to win 3-0 today but we have.”