Friday 12 December 2014 14:55, UK
Sunderland boss Gus Poyet says he is expecting a difficult afternoon when his side face the threat of resurgent West Ham striker Andy Carroll at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Carroll scored twice as the high-flying Hammers soared to fourth place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Swansea on Sunday and Poyet is aware of the threat the giant striker will pose for his defenders and goalkeeper.
He said: "Andy is special and different and I don't think you can find another one of him in the game right now.
"The adrenaline of being out for a while has brought him back at the highest level you can have and you need to be able to deal with that.
"It's a difficult game and we haven't had that kind of challenge yet of a player like Carroll, so the goalkeeper and the centre-halves and everyone else are going to have a difficult afternoon."
Poyet has challenged his team to win as many of their four games as possible over the Christmas period.
Upcoming matches against Newcastle, Hull and Aston Villa appear to represent decent opportunities to turn a recent glut of four draws from their last five games into much-needed wins.
Poyet added: "The challenge is to win as many of the next four games as possible. We are not looking to have four draws and if they are normal games without any accidents we need to win.
"We are going to play the four to win and then the season will be totally different. Winning games puts you in a different situation - it brings your confidence back.
"Last year we started getting better during this time and we had a very good run of results and took it into January, so we are looking at this period in a very special manner."
