SAM ALLARDYCE already has one eye on the January transfer window and believes Sunderland can’t afford to sign the wrong players if Premier League football is to stay at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats are deep in the relegation zone after 12 games and the four-point gap to safety could be extended over the weekend before Allardyce takes his team to Crystal Palace on Monday night.

Sunderland have won just won one game this season – the 3-0 victory over Newcastle after Allardyce took over from Dick Advocaat – and have been heavily tipped to head back into the Championship for the first time since 2007.

But the former West Ham boss is determined to avoid adding a relegation to his CV by keeping top-flight football on Wearside, accepting his work in the New Year could be the key to staying up.

He has already been linked with a number of players, most notably West Ham’s former Newcastle striker Andy Carroll and French midfielder Romain Amalfitano, after it emerged he will have money to spend.

Allardyce said: “It all depends on your recruitment in the end. I have always been of the belief that what you bring in to the football club has to be better than what you let go. That’s where success lies.

“That’s where the manager becomes a better manager. You can be the best manager in the world but if the players are no good you are not going to get the results you need. You get better players in than you let go and you will get better results.

“The hardest part of the job today, no question about it, is finding the players who are good enough at this level. Going forward, our selection in that area will have to be very, very good indeed. We are not going to be able to make any mistakes if we bring anybody in, starting in January.”

Carroll is a player Allardyce knows all about, having taken him to Upton Park in 2013 for £15m from Liverpool. The two also share the same agent, Mark Curtis, which forms the basis of the link because the England striker has found it harder to hold down a first-team place with the Hammers since returning from his latest injury.

It has been suggested West Ham could be willing to listen to offers of around £8m for the Gateshead-born 26-year-old, who came through the Newcastle Academy before being sold to Liverpool for £35m in January 2011.

But Allardyce said: “Andy is not available and he is not likely to be available at West Ham as far as I can see. If there are any rumours about Andy Carroll being transferred I haven’t heard it and I don’t think he is available.

“I have also heard he likes living in London. He has got his new family there and his house there and he is unlikely to want to leave. He is not available as far as I am concerned.”

Sunderland owner Ellis Short has indicated to Allardyce that he can invest in the squad in January, but he still thinks the players he has inherited can stay in his long-term plans.

He said: “We have players out of contract and there cannot be a bigger motivation for them. There are a number running out of contract and they have to earn the right to carry on their career at this level, to look after their families and to make sure they do the best they can for themselves and for this club and to try and secure another contract here.

“This is a great football club and they should be proud to play here and should be fighting to earn another contract. That has to be enough motivation for them.”

Allardyce is desperate for an improvement in results in the run up to Christmas, starting with Monday’s trip to Palace where he will have midfielder Lee Cattermole available again.

Cattermole suffered a disc problem in the first half at Everton on November 1 and concerns led to him paying a visit to renowned German specialist Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfhart – who has famously helped a long list of players such as Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate – in Munich during the international break.

Allardyce said: “Lee is alright and is available. With the specialist here and Hans, he has recovered and the good thing that came out of the international break is that he hasn’t really missed a game.

“We have used Hans for donkeys’ years because he is so good. He is so accomplished at what he does. It is not a normal way of treatment sometimes, it can be a bit quirky but it gives players so much confidence when they meet him. He has got him fit.

“It has now been relieved and hopefully it is gone for a good deal of time now. The problem was a nerve pressing against the disc in his lower back.”

Sunderland have also reported that skipper John O’Shea, who made his comeback from a hamstring problem in the last few minutes of Ireland’s Euro 2016 play-off with Bosnia, is fit to play.