Sunderland have made a strong start to the Premier League campaign and face Manchester United this weekend

Sam Allardyce has praised Sunderland for their strong start to the Premier League campaign and urged them not to get complacent after taking 11 points from their first six games.

Sunderland sealed their third win of the campaign at Nottingham Forest on Saturday thanks to Omar Alderete's header, and though the former Black Cats boss says they will never have a better chance at beating beleaguered Manchester United than this weekend at Old Trafford, he also warned against the dangers of complacency.

"At last we’re back to how the Premier League used to be," Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast with Boyle Sports.

"It’s taken us three seasons to get where we’ve always been, where the promoted three have done their very best, and at least two out of three would survive. Sunderland have put points on the board now to challenge everybody else, which makes for great entertainment. The top of the league isn’t being challenged enough, I don’t think, and the newly promoted teams have been a breath of fresh air. The Premier League has always been about that, the bottom can beat the top at some stage of the season. That’s why the whole world likes to watch it.

“The fans will be loving it, they’re filling the stadium every week and getting behind the team and really enjoying how they’ve started, but what they don’t need to do is get too complacent. That can smack you straight in the face quicker than you know. This is the best time for them to play Man United this weekend. This is the best chance they’ll ever have at beating Man United, if they’re on top of their game.”

The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our SAFC WhatsApp channel.

Former Manchester United assistant on the challenge ahead for Sunderland

Speaking as a guest on the podcast, former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson Rene Meulensteen said Sunderland's biggest test would be how they respond to a dip in form.

"Sunderland have started brilliantly and you need that, but I bet you a bottom dollar they’ll run into a sequence where they lose two or three games on the trot, and it’s how you react to that," he said.

"Teams like West Ham and Aston Villa, who are still down there, they’ll find their groove and come up. It’s still early doors. That’s what Sunderland has to prove; they’re riding that wave at the moment, but when the wave flattens out, how do you react to that? Granit Xhaka is important for them, experience, a leader, and younger players look up to him with what he’s done with Arsenal and [Bayer] Leverkusen, you need those players to call into your office once in a while, the leaders. They’ll sort it out for the team.”

Your next Sunderland read: Manchester United issue official update on five players ahead of Sunderland clash - including Amad latest