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David Moyes suggests Sunderland won’t always play with two up-front

Sunderland manager David Moyes (REUTERS)
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Victor Anichebe has scored three goals in his first two starts for Sunderland.

David Moyes has told the Chronicle that Victor Anichebe will not be used as a striker in every match for Sunderland.

Anichebe’s most natural position is as a target man up-front, and his partnership with Jermain Defoe has shown signs of promise in recent matches.

Anichebe and Defoe have scored five goals between them in Sunderland’s last two matches.

Sunderland's Victor Anichebe looks dejected

The pair worked well together up-front in Sunderland’s last match against Hull City, which they won 3-0.

However, Moyes has suggested that Anichebe may have to be used as a winger, if Sunderland are forced to play with a more defensive style in future.

Sunderland's Victor Anichebe celebrates scoring their first goal

“I think we will not be able to do it in all games,” Moyes said. “There’ll be games when we can use big Vic a little bit, like you’ve seen, off the sides, a centre forward drifting wide and not necessarily directly through the middle. Because Victor can do those roles, he gives us a bit of an outlet.

“But I think more importantly it’s just that we’ve got someone else we can hit up front, another type of forward player up front, whether it’s a 4-4-2 or we play him wide in a 4-3-3 or whatever.

“We need to try and get that, get some more support and give us a better chance of winning.”

Anichebe has made a huge impact at Sunderland, and he seems to have made their attack much more threatening.

The Black Cats have won both the Premier League matches Anichebe has started this season – against Bournemouth and Hull City – after failing to win for 10 games previously.

Sunderland are now off the bottom of the Premier League table, with their next match coming against Liverpool at Anfield.

Sunderland manager David Moyes