MANUEL PELLEGRINI'S time is up at Manchester City come the end of the season; Sam Allardyce would happily swap league positions after entering February with Premier League status still insecure with Sunderland.

City head for the Stadium of Light tonight looking for the victory which could take them back to the top of the table, hours after it was confirmed Pellegrini will be leaving the Etihad Stadium in the summer.

The Chilean has accepted his time is up in Manchester and City have lured Pep Guardiola into the hot seat for next season.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the role and the injury problems which have left City stuttering at times this season, Pellegrini’s side remain right in the mix for the title.

“They’ve not had a great season! Can I swap him? I’d like to be Manuel Pellegrini for the rest of the season!” said Allardyce, speaking before confirmation of Guardiola’s arrival.

“The difference in where you go in the league lies with whether you keep your squad fit. If he had Vincent Kompany fit all the time and Sergio Aguero fit all the time, he would probably be sitting at the top of the league four or five points clear.

“But Manuel chooses to go for every competition and when you do that it’s bound to put your players at more risk of injury. My focus has always been a prevention of injury policy.

“It hasn’t brought as many results as we’ve wanted but it’s given me options to change the team around over the Christmas period. Those players have stayed fit.”

Sunderland, fresh from making a number of pre-deadline additions in the transfer market, could do with stunning Pellegrini and Co tonight because of the four-point gap they have to make up to safety.

And having already been knocked out of the Capital One Cup and FA Cup, Premier League survival is all that matters to Allardyce and Sunderland for the rest of the season; unlike their counterparts.

“He’s got to a cup final already (against Liverpool). I can’t see why Man City and their history wouldn’t value winning the Capital One Cup as a great achievement,” said Allardyce. “I don’t think they should get too carried away just yet.

“Playing at Wembley and winning a cup final is not something many of us get the pleasure of doing. I don’t think Man City fans will underestimate if they beat Liverpool at Wembley.

“Man City’s away record is not as good as it should be but it’s still all about us playing our best. If they’re slightly off their best we can beat them as long as we’re at our best.

“But we have to be at our best for 90 minutes to achieve a result at that nature. Even then, the thing about Manchester City is that they could be playing below their best and Aguero can turn the game.”

Allardyce must decide the number of changes he makes to his Sunderland starting line-up tonight, although he knows that whatever team he does name will have a tough night on their hands.

He said: “I’d like to be in that position myself. For everyone to be jealous of Sunderland Football Club because we’ve got the best players, the best training facilities, we’re top of the league and in all the cup competitions … that would be wonderful.

“That’s how we are, isn’t it? We praise them for getting there and then as soon as we do, we’re jealous of them. We can’t help ourselves as human beings, British particularly.

“They’ve got a huge infrastructure to prevent injuries and I think they will be worried that they haven’t. A lot of people that work for me have worked for Manchester City and they have the same protocols as we have – and more – plus better equipment. They’ll be pulling their hair out, the people on the medical and the sports science side.”

Sunderland: Mannone; Jones, O’Shea, Kone, van Aanholt; M’Vila, Cattermole; Borini, Khazri, Johnson; Defoe.