Black Cats must halt slide now, warns Jermain Defoe

Jermain Defoe has warned Sunderland they cannot allow their barren run to continue for much longer if they are to avoid another survival scrap.

The Black Cats welcome West Ham to the Stadium of Light on Saturday having won none of their opening seven games of the Premier League campaign, leaving them rooted to the foot of the table with just two points to their name.

Head coach Dick Advocaat desperately needs a victory in the final fixture before the upcoming international break in order to steady a few nerves and repair tattered confidence, and that will be the aim against the side with which Defoe began his professional career.