SAM ALLARDYCE has revealed he turned down the opportunity to sign Jermain Defoe while he was West Ham boss because he had been “brainwashed” into believing the striker could not succeed in his preferred system.

Allardyce was one of a number of Premier League managers to have pondered a move for Defoe when it became clear the striker was set to leave MLS side Toronto FC, and even discussed the possibility of a move with West Ham co-owner David Sullivan.

However, Sunderland were the only club to make a formal offer to Toronto, and eventually signed the former England international as part of a swap deal involving Jozy Altidore.

Allardyce’s reservations related to Defoe’s perceived inability to play as a lone striker, and the Black Cats boss freely admits he harboured the same concerns when he agreed to succeed Dick Advocaat, another coach who felt it was impossible to play the 33-year-old in a lone attacking role.

Defoe started just four of Allardyce’s opening ten matches, but since pinning his faith on the forward at the turn of the year, the Sunderland manager has been forced to completely revise his opinion.

“There was a time at West Ham when we were thinking about it (signing Defoe),” said Allardyce, who left Upton Park at the end of last season. “David Sullivan and I talked about it but probably for that reason, for not being able to play him up front on his own, we decided not to. Everybody said he couldn’t do it.

“I think he’s brainwashed people, and I was probably brainwashed myself, into believing that he couldn’t play up front on his own. He’s proved that’s a nonsense really with how many goals he has scored since he’s been playing up front on his own. Long may it continue.

“I think clubs probably ignored him because there was an element that been hindering him which we have now diminished. Nearly everybody plays with one striker, with one up and one behind, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 - in the main, it's very rare that teams play 4-4-2. But perhaps he has laid that to rest now, that he cannot play up front on his own.”

Defoe heads into tomorrow’s home game with Arsenal looking to add to his tally of 16 goals in all competitions so far this season, with his 13 Premier League goals making him the seventh highest scorer in the division.

Given that he has been playing in a side that has spent all bar three weeks of the campaign in the bottom three, that is quite an achievement, but the success of some of his English rivals mean his feats have been largely overlooked.

Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have hogged the goalscoring headlines for most of the season, and with the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck also beginning to find form in the last couple of months, Defoe has been barely been mentioned as a potential candidate for Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2016.

“Have his performances been overlooked a bit? Yes,” said Allardyce. “And in fairness, he could probably have scored a lot more. He’s always frustrated when he misses a chance because he knows how important he is to us. It’s important to him, and important to us.

“His 16 goals are one of the reasons why we're still in with a shout. The reason we haven't been in with a shout is because we have been conceding too many goals. He's been our main deliverer - the rest of the players around him should have scored more.”

Defoe was on the target last weekend as Sunderland secured a crucial victory at Norwich, with the 3-0 success at Carrow Road moving the Black Cats to within a point of safety.

With Norwich not in action this weekend, Sunderland will definitely be out of the bottom three if they can pull off a surprise result against Arsenal, and Allardyce is hoping for a repeat of the spirited display that saw his side beat Manchester United in February.

Sunderland’s game in hand means they are arguably the best positioned of the three teams battling for the final two relegation spots, but Allardyce concedes they might still have to win three of their remaining five matches to survive.

“We can’t worry about what others do,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to get as many points as we can. We have to try to win at least three out of the five – that’s got to be our ultimate aim.

“If we can win three out of the five, I think that will be enough, and let’s start on Sunday by creating a big upset. Then our confidence will really be sky high to believe we can go on and get out of trouble from there.”

Jeremain Lens is unavailable because of illness, but Allardyce’s only worry about his established starting XI relates to DeAndre Yedlin. The right-back twisted an ankle earlier in the week and missed training yesterday, but is expected to be available tomorrow.