Big Sam: I want us in top half

HAVING guided Sunderland out of the bottom three for the first time this season, Sam Allardyce was looking up, not down. The evidence of six weeks on Wearside suggests his inner belief is entirely justified. ‘From my own point of view, I’m proud of the fact that wherever I’ve been I’ve always left the club better off than when I took over,’ said Allardyce, who has won three of his six games in charge. ‘My ultimate goal would be to try and emulate what Peter Reid did here.’ Reid achieved back-to-back seventh-place finishes after the turn of the millennium. For the past 13 years the likes of Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane, Steve Bruce, Martin O’Neill, Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat have tried but failed to emulate those heady days. Perhaps their smartest investment of late, Allardyce apart, has been the new contract given to Duncan Watmore. The England Under 21 winger smashed his side’s gameclinching second on Saturday.

SUPER STAT: Sunderland have won as many league games (three) in six matches under Allardyce as they had in 17 with Dick Advocaat.

SUNDERLAND (3-5-2): Pantilimon 7; Yedlin 6, Coates 6.5, O’Shea 6 (Johnson 74min, 6); Kaboul 6, Van Aanholt 7, Larsson 6 (Lens 54, 6.5), Cattermole 6, M’Vila 6.5; Defoe 6 (Watmore 31, 7.5), Fletcher 6.5.

Subs not used: Mannone, Borini, Matthews, Toivonen. Scorers: Van Aanholt 82, Watmore 84.

STOKE (4-2-3-1): Butland 6.5; Johnson 6.5, Shawcross 5, Wollscheid 6, Pieters 6; Whelan 6, Adam 5.5 (Afellay 85); Shaqiri 5 (Diouf 64, 6), Bojan 5 (Cameron 50, 6), Arnautovic 5.5; Walters 5.5.

Subs not used: Haugaard, Wilson, Van Ginkel, Crouch. Booked: Pieters, Shawcross, Adam. Sent off: Shawcross. Man of the match: Duncan Watmore. Referee: Mike Dean 5.