Sam Allardyce – having punched the air in delight from the dug out at the end – was in jovial mood after a great Stadium of Light victory.

He said: “It was a fantastic win for us and we’ve now gone an extra distance away from Sunderland after that win.

“If Andy Carroll stays fit from now to the end of the season hopefully he can go to the World Cup, he’s scoring goals and winning games for us.

“He’s not match fit at the moment, he isn’t as sharp as he could be so hopefully we’ll see more from him in the next few weeks.

“We’ve had a run of form in the last eight games where we’ve picked up 15 points from 8 games, results like that over the course of a season mean a top six finish.”