Defoe scored 18 goals for the Black Cats last season and has bagged two already this term.
Sunderland head coach David Moyes is hoping Jermain Defoe remains fully fit as the Black Cats strive to keep their Premier League status intact, according to quotes in The Daily Star.
The Wearside club have just one point from their opening five top-flight matches this term. Moyes believes another relegation battle could be on the cards, and admits that the talismanic Defoe will need to be fit and ready for the challenge.
The 55-time England international’s goals played a big part in assuring the Black Cats’ of Premier League survival last season with a number of crucial strikes that picked up valuable points for his side.
And after failing to bring in another proven striker during the summer transfer window, Moyes has now admitted that Defoe’s form and fitness will be of paramount importance in Sunderland’s bid to avoid the drop.
“If we lost Jermain for any length of time, it could be a problem,” the Black Cats’ manager admitted in The Daily Star.
Moyes did manage to bring in former Everton forward Victor Anichebe on a free transfer but the Nigerian hardly has the most prolific record and is currently short of fitness.
Other than that, Sunderland have no other senior out-and-out striker in their squad, which isn’t a good sign for a side who will be expecting to be challenging at the bottom rather than the top of the table come May.
Moyes went as far as to suggest that even an injury to Defoe wouldn’t stop him fielding the former Tottenham Hotspur man.
“In that scenario, maybe Jermain could be patched up and we would see things differently,” he continued.
“We wanted a striker and that’s why we brought in Victor but he’s not ready to start.”
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