Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce says he is surprised by criticism of his side's tactics ahead of their Premier League match against Stoke.

SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Allardyce, Sunderland manager (on being criticised for his tactics against Crystal Palace)

"It proves that we're learning, and for me it's hopefully the right indicator for me they are listening and we're trying to go and do the right thing. We've been somewhat criticised for the way we played on Monday which surprises me, probably not because down in London now I'm not there. We played how a lot of teams played in the Premier League away from home this year. If you look at the Premier Leagues results this season, for the first time ever there are more away wins than ever before. I think it's 11 or 12 up on last year. It means that home wins are more difficult to come by and most of the time it's because players sit in and make life very difficult for the opposition. Example is Champions League, PSV Eindhoven last night. Manchester United are getting hugely criticised and I watched that game last night and PSV Eindhoven's tactics were very, very similar to ours at Crystal Palace. They got a very creditable 0-0 draw. We went one better than that and got a 1-0 win but for some reason because Sunderland do it we get criticised for it but when PSV do it's some tactical genius at Old Trafford."