Joleon Lescott can help Sunderland handle pressure of relegation

Lescott suffered relegation with Aston Villa last season but has hundreds of top flight games under his belt.

With the Black Cats enduring a dramatic injury crisis and Papy Djilobodji being banned for four games, Lescott could be called upon as one of a number of older heads.

He said: “It’s nice to see Joleon through the door. We all know what he’s done in his career and what he’s capable.

“When you talk about experience, I don’t think we need to worry about him. He’s got more experience than most.

“I think it is important [experience], without a doubt, because it becomes a high-pressure situation. The longer the season goes on, the closer you get to the so-called must-win games wen time’s running out and with that comes pressure.

“Everyone deals with pressure differently but quite often experience does help you.

“Sometimes you walk out to training and you realise, the odd days we’ve only had eight or nine fit lads from the first team to train, which I don’t think I’ve experienced before.

“That’s part of football though, we’ve got to focus on the ones we do have and pick up better results.”

Sunderland suffered another blow this week with Victor Anichebe ruled out for 10 weeks after injuring his knee in his comeback game at West Brom.

“We were delighted to see him [Anichebe] back at the weekend, to only get a few minutes before he broke down and is out for a long time, it’s tough to take,” added Larsson.

“I’m sure for the manager it’s even harder, not to have your squad available and to be able to choose exactly what you want, it’s got to be very frustrating.

“But you can’t dwell on it.”