Following the signing of Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich, Sam Allardyce has promised Sunderland fans more signings will be made this week.
The former West ham manager has made it clear he doesn’t believe the Black Cat’s squad to be of enough quality to stay in the league this season without major additions. The renowned manager is supposedly looking for a full-back and a striker, with a possible swap deal for Swansea’s Batemfimbi Gomis in the offing.
According to The Chronicle, John O’Shea will be missing for the relegation ‘nine-pointer’ against Swansea City, but Allardyce hopes new man Kirchhoff will be available following international clearance issues.
Sunderland sit 19th in the table, 2 points behind rivals Newcastle United and 4 points behind Swansea City who hold the final place to remain in the Premier League. A win could massively impact on Sunderland’s chances of survival and Allardyce believes it’s a must win.
We’ll have somebody coming this week. It’s definitely a nine-pointer for either team. They can pull away from us if they win, and we can get closer to them if we win. It’ll be just as big a game as the Aston Villa game was for us last week. Obviously, the planning for this game (at Arsenal) was done keeping in mind Wednesday and then the following Saturday. So we’ll probably see quite a few changes. John O’Shea was the only casualty out of Saturday’s game, which is a little concerning but we pulled him off as quickly as we could with a tight calf. But I think everybody else is all right, apart from for the fatigue they’ve got from playing in this game on Saturday. There’s no distractions now. I think the focus is to stay fit, stay focused physically and mentally and carry out what’s needed in each game. So, meticulous planning for me to get the slight edge that you need when you’re playing at this level, down at the bottom. It’ll help my players to hold their nerve. The longer it goes on, the more nervous everybody becomes and we’ve got to be able to control ourselves under that pressure and deliver results. I know how many points we need, we all know that. It’s about chipping away, first and foremost, at getting to a points-per-game ratio which is level. You chip away and try to pick up a result here or there. Our biggest problem is not having a draw in the games since I’ve been here. We’ve won four. So had you drawn three or four we’d be in a very healthy position, and we’ve just let those three or four draws slip into defeats. We need to get an undefeated run going. If we can’t win at Swansea, come away having not lost. Because every time you lose, it’s always about the desperation, about the next one you’ve got to win.
