Sunderland are set to face Norwich City at Carrow Road this weekend.
Sam Allardyce has suggested that his Sunderland side could look to adopt a defensive approach against Norwich City at the weekend with his comments in the Sunderland Echo.
The Black Cats are currently four points behind 17th placed Norwich, and a victory would boost their survival hopes considerably.
However, Allardyce insists that the match is one which his side must not lose, rather than have to win.
He said: “We’ll be focused on getting a clean sheet first and foremost (at Norwich).
“Let’s see if we can take advantage of their nerves, with them being at home and the onus on them to attack.”
Sunderland are running out of time to save themselves in the bid to avoid the drop, and a defeat to Norwich would be disastrous.
If the Wearsiders do lose at Carrow Road they could slip seven points adrift of safety, with just five games remaining – and that gap would be almost impossible to make up.
Sunderland do head into their game against Norwich in decent form, but they need to start turning draws into victories.
The Black Cats have lost just two of their last eight Premier League matches, but they have not picked up enough wins to get out of trouble.
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