Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has challenged striker Steven Fletcher to earn himself a new contract by scoring the goals to keep the Black Cats in the Premier League.

The 61-year-old said: "Steve's like every centre-forward in the end. His hold-up play is very important to you because you can build off that - that in itself allows you to keep hold of possession a lot better - but ultimately in the end, you are judged on the number of goals you score.

"The more and more goals he scores, the more people will say Steven Fletcher is back to his best.

"In his position, it is one of the biggest challenges of his career because he is out of contract. When a player is out of contract and the club is in this position, I just want to see a player like Steven go out to help us to get where we want to get.

"Then everyone gets what they want - a new contract, we are okay in the Premier League and we try to move forward from there. It should be his target."