SAM ALLARDYCE believes there is nobody else to blame for the mess Sunderland are in but themselves, although he does not want to see miserable faces among his players as he attempts to steer them away from relegation danger.

Even a surprise victory at tenth-placed Crystal Palace tonight would not be enough to completely erase the four-point gap to 17th-placed Newcastle who still sit just above the relegation zone after losing to Leicester.

And the victory over the Magpies last month remains Allardyce’s only win since taking over from Dick Advocaat four matches ago, so he is desperate to see further improvements at Selhurst Park even though he rates Alan Pardew’s side highly.

Sunderland would have secured a point against Southampton before the international break had Yann M’Vila not needlessly tripped Ryan Bertrand in the second half to concede a penalty; the sort of mistake which has blighted the season so far.

Rather than dwell on the errors and look at the negatives, though, Allardyce wants to see smiles on the training ground, the team coach and in the dressing room, otherwise he feels the fight to survive would already be lost.

“They are down enough without me digging the errors out all of the time, criticising them after games,” said Allardyce. “They are fully aware of the mistakes that they have made. They have rarely needed pointing out and you just need to look at the faces of a player, it is written all over his face, he knows.

“They know when they have made a mistake and we have to pick them up. We just have to hope that next time out they don’t make a mistake and we get a result.

“It is difficult to keep a smile on their faces. It is difficult for everybody in this period of time but we have to face these difficulties. We have to face those head on, me more than anyone else. We have to help the players try to get through it.

“We are in this position and we have got ourselves in to this position. Nobody else is going to get us out of it. It is not the referees’ fault, it is not the owner’s fault, it is our responsibility and we have to accept that responsibility.

“You can’t go blaming anyone else other than ourselves. It is down to us as a backroom staff and the players to get out of the trouble we are in.”

The international break – and a Monday night game - has given Allardyce some extra time on the training ground with his squad of players to work on shape and systems, as he looks to tighten Sunderland up.

He said: “It’s about keeping a positive frame of mind and trying to get them to remember their responsibilities out on the field. It seems such a long time since we played the last game.

“We have to try to make sure we get the lads confident and in the right frame of mind to go out and play, to play as we can and as we see them play every day in training. Training has been good. It has been pretty jovial.

“It has been light hearted because we need to keep a smile on our face because that is the only way our plans are going to work in every game. We have to cut out the errors. Too many errors are costing us too many points. If we do that then we will give ourselves a better chance.”

Of the team which started the last game with Southampton on November 7, seven Sunderland players were at the club for last season’s relegation fight. The overall squad has even more players familiar with the situation, which is what Allardyce hopes will help turn things around sooner rather than later.

The former West Ham boss said: “They should have the experience (of getting out of trouble), they have the experience to be able to cope with it. We are not at the minute. We have won one and lost three since I have been here.

“They clearly haven’t coped with whatever has come our way. I’m disappointed we have not achieved better results. We have won one in four and lost the other three. That’s not good enough. I will be quite happy if we were sat here having won one and drawn two.

“We have a mountain to climb and we have to improve the points per game difference. We have to do that as quickly as we can. That’s where we will hopefully get safe in the end.”

But he knows Pardew, who like Allardyce has managed at both West Ham and Newcastle, has Palace in a confident frame of mind ahead of Sunderland’s trip to face the Eagles.

“Alan has a squad of players who have responded very quickly and he has maximised their strengths. He has found a system that suits every individual in the team and suits the team,” he said.

“In other words, basically, they are a super counter-attacking side. He is using the skills of the team to the maximum. I haven’t found our maximum potential yet but hopefully I will find it very soon.

“If you look at Alan’s last win, a 2-1 win at Liverpool, a last minute winner, you can’t feel any better than that because the opposition can’t come back, there is no time left. He must be very pleased with that victory and his team have done very well since he took over.”

Sunderland: Pantilimon; Yedlin, Coates, Kaboul, Jones; M’Vila, Cattermole; Borini, Johnson, Watmore; Fletcher.