JERMAIN DEFOE is happy to see his sharpness returning after his second-half double helped Sunderland sign off from their North American tour with a 2-1 win over MLS side Toronto FC.

Defoe struck twice against his former employers in the early hours of yesterday morning as the Black Cats came from behind to claim a welcome victory following defeats to Sacramento Republic and Club Pachuca.

The former England international claimed four goals as Sunderland scrambled to safety in the second half of last season, and is likely to be a key performer again as Dick Advocaat looks to assemble a squad capable of avoiding another battle against the drop.

The Black Cats have two more pre-season fixtures – against Doncaster next Wednesday and German side Hannover a week tomorrow – and Defoe feels he is peaking at just the right time.

“I feel like I needed the pre-season,” said the striker. “But this was the sharpest I’ve felt in a long time.

“It’s still a case of getting our fitness up, but at the same time, you want to be sharp, scoring goals and winning the games.

“We’ve got a couple of weeks until the season starts, and we’ve got two more pre-season games. By the time the season starts, hopefully we’ll be ready.”

Advocaat was happy to see his players finally record a win in North America, but the Dutchman is demanding significant improvements in the next two weeks.

New signings Jeremain Lens and Younes Kaboul should be available to make their first appearances in next week’s trip to Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium, and Advocaat is looking for an upturn in performance.

“It’s not only Lens and the new signings, it is all positions that have to improve,” he said. “We did it last year in the final nine games with six unbeaten games – three wins, three draws.

“It’s the same group with four different players who will improve the squad, and that’s good. But it’s not always easy after 12 days of training and travelling. We’ve had a 12-day pre-season camp with two training sessions every day, and performances will improve when we don’t train as often.”

With Costel Pantilimon, Patrick van Aanholt and Adam Johnson all starting yesterday’s game after missing the first two games of the tour, Sunderland did well to edge out a Toronto side who are halfway through their domestic season.

Defoe came close with an early opportunity as he latched on to Billy Jones' cross, before Steven Fletcher fired another decent effort wide.

Toronto were sharper than their opponents for long spells, and the hosts should have claimed the lead shortly before the interval, only for Robbie Findley to direct a close-range header straight at Pantilimon.

Jonathan Osorio also went close before the break, and the striker made no mistake as he profited from a mistake by summer signing Adam Matthews to open the scoring at the start of the second half. Matthews' attempted clearance went straight to Osario, who slotted home from 12 yards.

Sunderland levelled in the 65th minute, with Defoe turning well on the edge of the penalty area before firing home a deflected effort.

Pantilimon made a fine save to deny Molhan Babouli, and the Black Cats took advantage as they claimed the lead less than 60 seconds later.

Johnson's slick through ball released Fletcher, and the Scotsman squared for Defoe to tap home his second goal of the game. 

Sunderland: Pantilimon; Jones (Matthews 46), O’Shea (Beadling 46), Brown, van Aanholt; Larsson, Cattermole, Rodwell (Bridcutt 46), Johnson (Giaccherini 46); Defoe, Fletcher (Watmore 85).