Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has put the emphasis on defence ahead of his side's trip to Man City.
Allardyce: "That's the ultimate to your success. The team that wins the league is the one with the most clean sheets, that will never change.
Allardyce: 'Stop 'Em Scoring And You Win The League'!
By Nu Mad
Updated Friday, 28th September 2007
Allardyce: "That's the ultimate to your success. The team that wins the league is the one with the most clean sheets, that will never change."That's all that really matters - if you can win and entertain, that's even better. You will always be forgiven if you play poorly and win.
"Obviously what happened at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night was disappointing.
"Oba was disappointed and I was disappointed for him, but chances come and go, and strikers score some and miss some, and at least he was there to miss them.
"But what Oba can't do is let this get him down.
"I told him he did great getting the ball past the goalkeeper at Arsenal just after they scored, but then he didn't hit it hard enough and the defender got his shot off the line.
"It was a shame for us and a pity for him, because for the next couple of days he's going to think it was all his fault.
"But he can't do that. This is a team game and we're all in this together.
"He knows that as a front man if he scores then he gets all the headlines, and that if he doesn't score he gets a different type of headlines.
"He'll know he could have had the right sort of headlines after Arsenal, but what's really pleasing is that he's looking really sharp and really, really quick.
"At Arsenal we didn't get as much service to Oba as we would have liked, and if we had he would have caused them a lot more trouble."
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