TWENTY-THREE years since Sunderland and Newcastle United last spent time outside of the English top-flight together, Sam Allardyce has claimed it would be devastating for the area if the Tyne-Wear rivals both dropped out of the Premier League next month.

Norwich City’s victory over the Magpies last weekend coupled with Sunderland’s goalless draw against West Bromwich Albion has increased the chances of the two North-East teams going down this season.

There is another round of significant fixtures this weekend in the fight for survival, with Sunderland looking to close the gap on Norwich before the two go head-to-head at Carrow Road next Saturday.

To do that Allardyce will have to oversee a surprise victory over runaway leaders Leicester City tomorrow, which will arrive after the Canaries have faced Crystal Palace and Newcastle have gone to Southampton this afternoon.

The Sunderland manager and his St James’ Park counterpart Rafael Benitez are adamant that the teams they lead can stay up despite the perilous position in the bottom three.

Allardyce, who spent less than a year in charge on Tyneside before he was sacked by Mike Ashley in January 2008, has experienced enough about life in this region to know the impact it will have should relegation fall Newcastle and Sunderland’s way.

He said: “It’s massive. We have 45,000 tickets sold already for Sunday, we had 45,000 last week. No disrespect to Tony Pulis and his West Brom team, but the fans were still turning out for a fixture that was not as appealing.

“We are on the telly on Sunday and they are still turning out for us. It’s the same up the road. It would be a devastating blow for either of the North-East teams to get relegated.”

Despite failing to overcome West Brom last weekend there was still a positive atmosphere inside the Stadium of Light, even though there remains a strong possibility that Sunderland will be playing in the Championship next season.

Allardyce said: “The fans have supported the team from the day I walked through the door and tried to make things better.

“We have had the occasional hiccup when they have shown their disapproval and rightly so, but I think on what they have experienced over the last four or five years, they know they need to help us.

“They know because as a team we have had to scrape out of trouble four previous times in a row. The fans have been through it so they know they have to try to help us even though it has been terribly frustrating for them. At least we are giving them hope.”

Sunderland are four points adrift of fourth-bottom Norwich going into this weekend’s fixtures, while Newcastle are two points worse off. Both have one game in hand on Alex O’Neil’s side, who have shown they are up for the fight in recent weeks.

If Allardyce is to lead a successful survival fight he accepts 12-goal top scorer Jermain Defoe will be crucial in the run-in, although he is keen for more of his players to share the goal burden.

He said: “Who else will score? Fabio Borini, Wahbi Khazri … Dame N’Doye scored last week and would have been the hero if the linesman had kept the flag down, although he was offside to be fair!

“We have to be more clinical, there’s no doubt about that. Not too many people score for Leicester other than Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy. We have Jermain Defoe and not too many after that. Spreading them around is better than two people scoring them all if you can.

“When you see the quality of the Leicester goal against Southampton, and the quality of the header, that is what it is about … producing quality at this stage of the season, that’s what teams need.”

Allardyce has no fresh injury problems to face the Foxes, so he hinted he is happy enough to go with the same players that should have beaten West Brom. That means no place for £8m winger Jeremain Lens again after his recovery from injury.

The Sunderland boss said: “He has to be patient. There is not an avenue there for him because the rest are playing well enough. It would be for Jeremain to take his chance if somebody drops their level. He might get a chance if somebody drops in performance. It’s the same for Seb Larsson, Ola Toivonen, Dame and even John O’Shea.”