SAM ALLARDYCE insists there will be no problem when he meets up with Jurgen Klopp this afternoon for the first time since he labelled the Liverpool boss a ‘soft German’ in the wake of Sunderland’s defeat in December.

Klopp was amused by Allardyce’s description of him after he had been incensed by a Jeremain Lens tackle on Mamadou Sakho during the second half of the Reds’ 1-0 win over the Black Cats. It led to the Liverpool boss suggesting Lens should have been red carded.

Allardyce made his derogatory remark in his post-match interviews at the Stadium of Light and the pair will today meet face-to-face for the first time since, when Sunderland look for a result to give their fight for survival a lifeline.

"I made a comment which I perhaps shouldn't have done which wasn't directed at him really and you journalists made a fuss out of an honest answer I made on talkSPORT,” said Allardyce. “Alan Brazil (talkSPORT presenter) apologised to me when he saw the headline he thought it was more ridiculous than I did.

“I have no problem with Jurgen, it's great to see him here and he's a great character. I can't wish him well on Saturday but after that I do.”

Rather than mean that Klopp was soft because of his nationality, Allardyce claims his comments were more to do with the differences between playing in Germany and England.

He said: "It was more about whether German football was softer than ours, when he said Jermain Lens should have got sent off.

“It was only a question asked by Alan Brazil saying lots of players and managers who come to the Premier League for the first time particularly mid-season don't experience as ferocious a fixture list as we do, so if they've not experienced it that was maybe a cause of the injury due to the fatigue at that time.”

Liverpool have shown signs of progress under Klopp only for improvements in performances and results to be followed by disappointments. The inconsistencies have meant Klopp’s impact has not really seen them close in on the top four like many felt they might.

“It’s like anyone else, once you’ve had your injury problems … we have been more accountable to what the players and the staff do, to make sure the players get fitter, which they have, and prevent them from injuries, which we have,” he said.

“Injuries are the biggest problem to overcome for any manager. Once those injury fall into three, four, five or six of your better players, then every team in this division struggles. Liverpool have had a huge amount of injuries, which has made life more difficult for Jurgen - and would for any manager.

“Phillipe Coutinho, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Sturridge are training, so that obviously makes them stronger if they play against us. But we'll wait and see. Similar style, everybody is aware of Liverpool's style since he took over as manager and they're trying to deliver that.”

Sunderland need the poorer performing Liverpool to turn up this afternoon to help claim a victory that could close the gap to safety to a point.

After failing to win any of their last three games, Allardyce accepts his team have not built on the improvements which back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Swansea brought. He does, however, think Sunderland have enough time to avoid a nail-biting finish to the campaign.

“We got out of trouble last year, we got overshadowed by Leicester. It was a miraculous recovery again, it didn't get mentioned much because Leicester did even more,” said the Sunderland head coach.

"When Sunderland did it, it was sort of swept under the carpet because it wasn't as great as that. So many clubs do it over the years and my hope was that we won't have to wait that long. And we might not, we've still got time not to be in single figures to have to worry too much about winning three out of the last four, or three out of the last six, whatever it may be. That's what we have to strive for.”

Sunderland look to have made a few decent signings in the January transfer window after impressive performances from Jan Kirchhoff, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri in the midweek defeat to Manchester City. Adapting to the situation, Allardyce feels, will determine what division Sunderland are in next season.

He said: "It's like everything else, it's how well the players handle the pressure. That's the bottom line. Pressure for them is enormous. My job is: I'll take the pressure off them, I'll take the brunt of the criticism, it's me that's the manager, it's me that picks the team, it's me that doesn't motivate them, it's me that's in charge.

“They need to try to deal with the pressure and give their performances on a regular basis. More importantly it's what happens at both ends. You can talk about possession – this is the most unusual year ever for 'possession is not king'. Possession is not king like everybody says it is – not letting a goal in at one end and scoring at the other, is king. And always will be king.”