Defoe: Black Cats need some luck on injury front

The season may be only three weeks old, but Jermain Defoe admits Sunderland’s squad was already crying out for the international break.

The Black Cats have not had much luck on the injury front at the start of the new campaign and are sweating on experienced stars like John O’Shea and Lee Cattermole to make their return.

Defoe – who has scored twice in the first three games for the Black Cats – is another key figure and admits David Moyes’ squad need a break already.

“We’ve had a few injuries to key players who need to come back in, so hopefully the international break gives those players time to recover so that when we come back everyone is ready to go,” he said.

“If we continue to play the way we have with the same spirit and same mentality then then I think we will pick up a lot of points.”

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

And after defeats in their opening two league games, Sunderland secured a point against Southampton last time out to leave Defoe confident the best is yet to come – particularly from their young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who made an error for the Saints’ equaliser.

He continued: “At Southampton it was a very similar story to last year; we were 1-0 up and working hard at a difficult place.

“We dug in and it can’t always be a pretty game so you have to concentrate from the first minute until the final whistle, but they got the equaliser and it was unlucky on Jordan [Pickford] because I thought he was brilliant.

“He was probably our best player with his decisions – his kicking was also unbelievable – and he made some brilliant saves, so it was unfortunate but we will take the point.”