Allardyce On Left Backs

Sam Allardyce has admitted the club can’t find a suitable left back.

Leighton Baines remains sidelined, as he has done since November leaving Cuco Martina ploughing on down the left in an unfamiliar left-back role.

Allardyce:  “We have looked at many left-backs and obviously we can’t find the right left-back that we’re looking for.

“There’s obviously a great shortage of quality players throughout the world who can play in the Premier League, I don’t have any doubts about that – so to try and find one in this window means that you would be taking a gamble.

“The ones who are available, and there aren’t that many, are mostly what other teams don’t want.

“So you have to pay a lot of money for a player somebody doesn’t want to sell – and that is a great difficulty in this window, to look for a left-sided player, a left-footed full-back, which is obviously one of the positions we are light in.

“Our balance is not very good because we don’t have anybody like that apart from Bainesy.

“But at the end of the day, when we are conceding goals like we are, you want a good steady full-back in that position.

“After all, whoever who is going to play there on Wednesday needs to handle Mahrez!

“Because of the way we are told we have to play our football today, everyone seems to think full-backs need to be more attacking-minded now rather than defensive minded.

“But if they’re a top player they need to be very good at both.”