SAM ALLARDYCE hopes Sunderland have taken the first steps towards recreating Peter Reid’s successful time in charge at the Stadium of Light but has warned supporters to expect his project to take years.

The Black Cats have won back-to-back Premier League fixtures for the first time since May after defeating Crystal Palace and Stoke City to climb out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

But the position Sunderland find themselves in remains a far cry from the days at the turn of the century when Reid led the club to two seventh place finishes in a row.

That is the sort of success story Allardyce is dreaming of during his time in charge, having quickly won over the Wearside fans with his approach and ability to get results quickly from a group of players who looked incapable of staying up before his arrival.

“From my own point of view, I’m proud of the fact that wherever I’ve been I’ve always left the club better off when I’ve left than when I took over,” said the former West Ham and Bolton boss.

“You can back that up by looking at the clubs I’ve been at. My ultimate goal would be to, in the end, try to emulate what Peter Reid did here … my old mate. Try to be as good as he was.

“It’s nice to hear the fans sing your name, of course. But it’s the players who do my talking, really, and they’ve certainly done my talking in the last two games. Hopefully they continue to do that.

“It looks like they’re using their experience, and the knowledge that they’ve got. I’m trying to guide them in the right direction, and give them the opportunity to go out and play and win football matches. We seem to be going in the right direction.”

Keeping Sunderland in the top-flight is the priority this season and by the turn of the year it is not inconceivable to think they could be back in the bottom three, with away trips to Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea pencilled in as well as home dates with Watford and Liverpool.

But Allardyce, and his 61 years, is too experienced to fall in to the trap of thinking Sunderland have turned the corner because they have won three games under him. Ideally, though, he will get to next summer, stay in charge and plot a way to attack the top ten.

“It might take a year or two, you know (to emulate Reid)?” said Allardyce. “I think it comes down to how well, as a business, which is what it is, you invest in the business. We’ve got to invest wisely in the business when we get the opportunity.

“At this moment in time the business is evolving by me trying to make the players perform better than they were before I got here.

“That’s why Ellis (Short) employed me, for my experience in the field. Hopefully that’ll pay off for us all, and then when we come to finding out at the end of the season, if we’re still in the Premier League, and we’ve fought our way out of this problem, then we invest and get better.”

While Allardyce – after watching late goals from Patrick van Aanholt and Duncan Watmore seal the points against Stoke - is renowned for his recruitment, he is delighted with the progress that he has made with the players he has inherited from Dick Advocaat and other previous managers.

“The players must be logging in to their iPads and having a look at what we send them, and saying ‘Let’s take what we practice into the game’, because I think pieces of information are very important for players today,” he said.

“It was hugely important that we won this game when Stoke went down to ten men, hugely important. I’d have been bitterly disappointed if it was 0-0, having had the advantage of an extra man.”

Sunderland’s third victory of the season, which has lifted them two points clear of the relegation zone, did arrive at a cost, however.

Seb Larsson had to hobble off after damaging the medial ligaments in his knee, Jermain Defoe suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem and skipper John O’Shea felt discomfort in his shoulder.

All three players had to be replaced and will be assessed over the next 24 hours again to determine whether they will be in contention for the trip to Arsenal.