The manager and the team are working on the principle that ‘darkness is the spur!”
That may have the ring of a Hollywoood epic but for Sam Allardyce and his Irons the darkness of recent months is something he doesn’t believe they will or should forget.
Speaking ahead of a game that can see them extend their winning run to five he said: “I don’t think that you forget them, I think that you use them as a spur to go on and continue to perform well and get the results.
“In that dark period we had, we all battled our way through it which I thought we did really well, particularly sticking together as a squad of players.
“We all knew that if we got some of our key players back from the injuries and suspensions that we suffered that we would be better and we’ve gone out and proven that.
“Let’s continue to prove that we are a team that’s growing, we are a team that’s going to finish the season strongly and we are a team that’s hopefully going to finish in and around the position we finished last year.
“That’s the process of growing slowly in the Premier League. Unless you’ve got millions of pounds to spend, it’s very difficult to increase the quality of your players and your squad.”