Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has called in a favour from his old Blackburn Rovers fullback Michel Salgado.

Real Madrid outfit have a coaching clinic in Dubai, where ex-Real and Spain right-back Salgado is based.

Allardyce said: “As we had a fortnight without a game before we visit my old club West Ham on Saturday, we've taken the chance to do some training in Dubai.

“I'm a great believer in that and in the past at other clubs I've seen the benefit of it.

“It's been a part of my life since I got into the Premier League and Dubai offers the highest level of facilities in the world.

“So I've linked up with Michel, who looks after the Real Madrid coaching clinic over there, and we've used their facilities."