Sunderland veteran Jermain Defoe has hailed the impact of David Moyes' January signings.

Defoe particularly was happy with the arrival of Joleon Lescott.

He said: “Maybe the signings that have come in, players that the manager knows from before, lift everyone else.

“It's a funny one, you bring competition into the club, and (for) the players that are here, you want to impress the new players. It's something that we wanted – the team spirit is always the most important thing.

“In tough times, you've got to stick together. If you stick together as a group, it doesn't really matter what's going on – you win together, you lose together.

“I don't understand it [the commitment]. I'm not a defender!

“But, yeah, I remember Vito's double save, Lescott come on. It's brilliant bringing someone like that, with his experience, into the football club.

“I've known Joleon since I was young, and there's a lot of things that people don't see (what he offers). He'll go into the gym 45 minutes before training – I've not seen that from too many players before in my career. Unbelievable professional.

“Gibbo [Darron Gibson] has come in, not a lad I've played with before, but he has that experience. It's been good, we just have to keep going.

“There's no point taking our foot off the gas. With the other teams around us winning games, we need to keep winning."