JERMAIN DEFOE has backed Sam Allardyce to be the next England manager – and suggested the Sunderland boss could combine the role with his current duties at the Stadium of Light.

Allardyce has been touted as one of the possible successors to Roy Hodgson, who stood down from his position as England boss in the wake of Monday’s Euro 2016 defeat to Iceland.

The 61-year-old has never hidden his desire to take charge of his country, but was overlooked for the job in 2006 when the Football Association opted to appoint Steve McClaren instead.

Defoe worked with Allardyce last season as Sunderland survived in the Premier League, and the former England striker is confident his club manager would be a huge success on the international stage.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Five Live, Defoe said: “He (Allardyce) should be (linked with the England job), although I hope he doesn’t leave Sunderland.

“I’ve always known about Sam, but it’s only when you play for a manager that you actually realise what they bring to a team and what they bring to a dressing room.

“I remember when I was young, at West Ham, playing against his Bolton team and travelling up to the stadium thinking ‘It’s going to be a difficult one against Sam’s team’. It was so direct, and we always used to say it was a horrible way of playing, but so effective.

“He came into Sunderland and gave us the basis of how to win games, and that was it. He didn’t really complicate anything.

“On a Thursday, he would do the team shape and say, ‘This is what I want’ and ‘This is how we are going to win today’. It was always different depending on who we were playing against. ‘This is how I feel like we are going to win’.

“He could transfer that (to England), 100 per cent. If you look at the players we’ve got, especially the young players with the legs and the energy, then 100 per cent (he could do it). Obviously I want him to stay at Sunderland, but maybe he could do both.”