Sam Allardyce has warned his Leeds players they cannot afford to lose Saturday’s clash with his former club Newcastle, and has challenged his squad to use the fear of relegation to spur them to safety in their final three games of the season.
Leeds, who are second-bottom and two points shy of safety, host Newcastle at lunchtime before facing West Ham away and Tottenham at home. Allardyce said his goal was to get to the final day still in with a chance of survival after losing to Manchester City in his first game as head coach last week.
He believes a positive result on Saturday is vital. “To give ourselves the best chance we’ve got to try and get a point on the board but more importantly three if we can,” he said. “But I have said to the players and I will say it now: ‘When we come off the field on Saturday, we can’t afford to lose.’
“We must get something. The biggest thing that can happen on Saturday is that we don’t lose. Then we’ve got a point on the board. I want to still be in it when we play Tottenham. But the fear of relegation needs to drive them on. The fear of losing their Premier League status should make them fight hard.”
Allardyce said his claim last week that he was “up there” with Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp was a tactic to take the pressure off his players, but avoided a repeat on Thursday.
He said: “All those who criticised me sounded a bit thick when all I was doing was diversifying off the players on to myself, which was a great tactic that I picked up from Alex Ferguson. So there was no pressure on the players because I took it all – I took all the stick. But there’s none of that this week. It’s simply focusing on Newcastle.”