Allardyce has put himself on the spot more than once this season, when he said Viduka and Michael Owen were his "ideal partnership", which had Martins seeing his future on the bench.
Then Sam told Steve Harper he was "number one", only for Shay Given to produce a world class performance for the Republic of Ireland the following day, and the Toon boss saying: "how could I leave Shay out after that performance?"
Allardyce has tried just about every combination in attack, mixing Owen, Martins and Viduka with Shola Ameobi and Alan Smith.
Allardyce: "While we do not want to prejudge how long Michael will be out, our assessment is four to six weeks and it is so disappointing it has left us gutted.
Then Sam told Steve Harper he was "number one", only for Shay Given to produce a world class performance for the Republic of Ireland the following day, and the Toon boss saying: "how could I leave Shay out after that performance?"
Allardyce has tried just about every combination in attack, mixing Owen, Martins and Viduka with Shola Ameobi and Alan Smith.
Allardyce: "While we do not want to prejudge how long Michael will be out, our assessment is four to six weeks and it is so disappointing it has left us gutted.
"Steve McClaren is a good friend of mine but, from our point of view, this did not look to be a very important game and we've ended up losing one of our biggest players for several weeks.
"The games are coming fast and furious for us, especially in December, and it looks as though Michael is going to miss a lot of them. We don't have the biggest of squads and it's all so disappointing."