VITO MANNONE is desperate for Sam Allardyce to remain at Sunderland no matter what happens in the next six matches – and has tipped the Black Cats boss to steer the club to the safety of mid-table if survival can be achieved this term.

Sunderland head to Norwich City on Saturday knowing a win is all but essential if they are to avoid dropping into the Championship next month. The Black Cats currently trail their weekend opponents by four points, so while they have a game in hand, it is hard to see them surviving if they do not reduce the deficit in two days’ time.

Relegation would have serious ramifications, and could result in Allardyce opting to leave Wearside rather than oversee a rebuilding job in the second tier. The Sunderland boss has refused to discuss his future plans in the event of relegation, but Mannone will be urging him to remain in his position even if things do not go to plan in the games that remain.

Since replacing Dick Advocaat in October, Allardyce has engineered a marked improvement in performances, even if results have not followed a similarly upward trend, so while Sunderland have spent the whole of the season in the bottom four positions in the table, Mannone insists the foundations are in place for a sustained recovery next term. Provided, of course, Premier League survival is secured.

“Obviously, the manager needs to stay,” said Mannone, who is now firmly established as Sunderland’s number one goalkeeper. “If he’s here and we do stay up, it’s going to be a good base for this club to finally get what it’s able to achieve.

“I’ve always said this club has the potential to be a very good one. We have to start by being in a better part of the table, trying to achieve a higher position. But from there, you’ve seen what teams like Stoke and Swansea have done – they’ve done magnificently.

“Leicester are a great example, and they’ve done it so quickly. I think there’s the base and the right man in charge to be in a better position.”

Mannone was Sunderland’s goalkeeper two years ago when they achieved their most remarkable ‘Great Escape’ under the tutelage of Gus Poyet.

Back then, the Black Cats claimed four points from matches against Manchester City and Chelsea when they looked dead and buried, and eventually clambered up the table to finish in 14th position.

They need a similarly strong finish this time around, and with Arsenal and Chelsea still to play, the parallels to the 2013-14 campaign are obvious. If anything, though, Mannone feels the current squad is actually stronger than the one that survived under Poyet.

“I really think that everyone is pushing for us to stay up, and we are probably in a better situation than we were two years ago,” he said. “That’s nothing against the team from that time, but we had people at the end of their contracts. We’re not in that situation now.”

Sunderland are, however, in a position where they cannot afford to lose this weekend, and their prospects of a positive result at Carrow Road have been enhanced by the absence of influential Norwich centre-half Timm Klose.

Klose, who scored in the Canaries’ recent win over Newcastle, has helped improve Norwich’s defensive fortunes since making a January move from Wolfsburg, but is a major worry for Saturday’s game after damaging his knee in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

Sebastien Bassong is likely to return to the starting line-up in Klose’s absence, and while the former Newcastle defender has slipped down the pecking order in the last couple of months, Matt Jarvis insists he is a more than capable deputy.

“Timm has been exceptional for us over the last few weeks,” said Jarvis. “But Sebastien Bassong has pretty much played the whole season anyway, so he’s more than capable of coming in. Plus, I thought he did very well when he came in during the first half on Saturday.”