Defoe calls on Sunderland players to work harder

Cape Town - Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has reiterated the importance of working hard to help the club out of the relegation zone in the English Premier League.

The Black Cats have not scored a Premier League goal in their last seven games, drawing one and losing six. The club look set for relegation as they are 10 points from safety with only seven games left.

Defoe is the top scorer for Sunderland this season, with 14 goals, but has not managed to find the back of the net since early February, and he has admitted he needs to do better.

He said, according to Daily Star: “Working hard for the team is the first thing anyone should do. Playing nice football and scoring goals is something that can look after itself, but you have to give everything.

“I’ve set high standards at every club I’ve played for and people expect you to score goals so it’s important you keep doing it. If you don’t, people will start asking questions.

“It’s not as if I sit there thinking there’s a lot of pressure on me because it’s no different to being at my previous clubs where people also expected me to score," the England international added.

“When people expect something you’ve just got to do it. There are no excuses, you have to score goals.”