JERMAIN DEFOE has given Sunderland a massive thumbs up after admitting he would never have envisaged loving life in the North-East as much as he has when he previously rejected chances to play for Sunderland.

In an open and honest assessment of his time on Wearside, Defoe has described how the club has got under his skin during the last 18 months before going on to offer advice to Wayne Rooney after a week when the Manchester United man lost his place in the England team.

Defoe has scored four goals in the seven appearances he has made under David Moyes this season, even though Sunderland occupy a familiar spot at the foot of the Premier League table.

Sunderland will need him to continue in that sort of form to stand any chance of staying in the top-flight and his 18 goals spearheaded a survival push under Sam Allardyce last season.

There have been memorable goals – like his volley against Newcastle United – since his arrival from Toronto in January last year, and there have been tears of emotion at times when he has celebrated to highlight how much certain moments have meant to him.

Now, looking back at the times the Beckham-born 34-year-old was linked to Sunderland earlier in his career, he can’t understand why he may have had reservations.

"I've moved to a nice house in a quiet area,” said Defoe. “London's so busy, in a way it's nice to come away from that. I don't think there's so many distractions. For my football, for my career it's better.

"Of course (had a different perception) - but that was before I went to Toronto. Before I went to Canada I was a proper London boy. Going up north, I'd like to have experienced it but the North-East was cold. Then I went to Canada. The cold ... wow. You can't even go out. You couldn't wear this coat (warm one) because it wouldn't be warm enough.

“It is cold here. But that’s it. Everything else, it’s just an excuse. It’s an excuse, if you love football, you can’t make excuses. It’s like going to an away game at Stoke. It’s going to be cold, it’s a tough place to go, you lose the game and you make excuses.

“If you love playing football, if you want to play in front of amazing fans, a big stadium, at a club with fantastic training facilities, then put some tracksuit bottoms on and come and play for Sunderland. It’s a soft way out to make excuses about the weather.”

When Defoe left Tottenham to join Toronto he was accused of taking the easy option after a frustrating spell at White Hart Lane, but despite entering the twilight of his career he has really taken to playing for Sunderland.

He said: “I’ve always thought we have so much more to give, that we can improve and push on. Those times that I’ve cried, it means so much for me to be here and score goals. To hear people say that if I keep scoring goals I can be like Kevin Phillips, it means so much because he is a legend here, it’s special.”

Defoe does not want to be remembered as the man who scored regularly in a team that relinquished Premier League status in the end. He said: “If I’d scored 15 goals and we went down, it wouldn’t have counted for anything.”

He added: “It’s going to take time to build (under David Moyes). It takes time for a manager to do that, you can’t just come into a football club and it clicks overnight. The manager has brought his own players in, it’s a new way of playing and it was always going to take some time.”

Defoe has spent the last ten days training at Sunderland when many felt he had a chance of being named in the England squad had Allardyce remained in charge. He has not given up on a recall under Gareth Southgate, while he also had some advice for Rooney.

He said: “Ryan Giggs showed that age is an irrelevance, it was well documented the things he was doing like yoga and pilates. Teddy Sheringham played until he was 40. I think Les Ferdinand was 38. I just think, if you do it right, if you look after yourself like I always have, then you shouldn’t have a problem.

“I don’t feel like I have to change my game at the minute. I can still play on the shoulder of the last defender and run in behind and stretch defences. I don’t think there are many strikers like me around at the minute.

"It's unbelievable (the criticism of Rooney). People obviously forget what he's done and how much football he's played. Look at his record - the highest goalscorer - it's a little bit harsh in my opinion (the criticism).

“Obviously I know Wayne, not just as a footballer but as a person and he's such a nice lad. He did a press conference and you've got to give him credit because a lot of players wouldn't have done that. They'd hide away.

“I think the only thing I'd say to him is just keep positive and be proud of what he's achieved in the game. He's 30 and some of the things he's achieved in the game are unbelievable. He's a goalscorer and when he gets the chances he can finish and he can create goals as well. But it's not down to me - I'm not the manager of Man Utd or England.”