Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce insists he hasn't written off Jermain Defoe.

The 33-year-old has started from the bench in both of his games in charge so far but emerged to make a game-changing contribution during last Sunday's 3-0 victory over Newcastle.

Allardyce said: "If Jermain is playing in a 4-4-2, can the rest of the team cope? 'So Jermain might score a goal but the opposition might score two. Jermain might score two and the opposition might score three.

"That's based on the fact that you can't control the midfield area if you have one fewer. 'Jermain could play on his own maybe. Can he do it, can he deal with it?

"Nobody thought, for a long time, at Manchester City that Sergio Aguero could play up on his own. He always wanted to play with a big man.

"Now you see him playing up on his own brilliantly. So there's no reason why, eventually, we can't do that with Jermain.

"You can get all your defensive side right, but you're going to need someone to score you a goal and Jermain Defoe's track record says he needs fewer chances to score than anyone else."