SAM ALLARDYCE has suggested that Jermain Defoe should continue scoring goals for Sunderland in order to end the speculation linking him with a move away from Wearside – and has pinpointed Adam Johnson as being the most likely player to assist him.

The 33-year-old scored the winning goals as Sunderland completed a 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday, on the weekend where there were fresh reports about interest from Bournemouth in the former Tottenham and England striker.

Although Defoe has started only 12 of Sunderland’s 20 Premier League games this season, he is the Black Cats’ top scorer with nine goals in all competitions, and Allardyce, who has called Defoe the club’s most natural finisher, believes that continuing to win games for his side will bring an end to those rumours.

“He’s got a three and half year contract hasn’t he?” said Allardyce after the Sunderland manager was questioned over the speculation. “He can change everything by doing what he did today more often, can’t he?”

Defoe was isolated for 45 minutes in a tetchy, nervy game against Villa, but showed his quality with two well-taken goals in the second half as Sunderland closed the gap between themselves and Newcastle United to two points with their first win since November, and gained further ground on 17th-placed Swansea City, who lost against Manchester United on Saturday.

Allardyce added: “He’ll say he was playing up front on his own, but the two wide men are supposed to join him and you’ve got the one behind in Adam Johnson who I think is starting to play more like his old self.

“It’s about why has everybody constantly said he can’t play up front on his own?

“In the end I’ve listened to everybody else say that, but I’ve decided to have a go with it. On Saturday it paid off. It might not do in the future, but it might.

“Maybe everybody has to realise that he’s there to provide for, that he’s the end product not there to be part of the build-up or to be a hold up player like Steven Fletcher, but to put the ball in the back of the net.

“So we have to change our style to say we have to play through midfield, have to do better in wide positions, we have to play better and cleverer balls for Jermain to get in goalscoring positions. If we do that, he’ll score goal and win us games.”

Allardyce has pinpointed Johnson as being the most likely service provider for Defoe. The former Middlesbrough and Manchester United attacker assisted Defoe’s first goal of the afternoon and Allardyce feels that playing the former England man in a central role allows him to influence the game more.

It is a similar situation to Stewart Downing’s role at West Ham United when Allardyce was manager at Upton Park, moving Downing into a central role which ultimately earned him a recall to the England squad last season.

The former Bolton boss said of Johnson: “His control of the ball and quality on the ball are things that we’re going to need. He can provide the service for Jermain to get between the fullbacks and the centre halves.

“I like him there, because he gets more position there than he does out wide and his talents on the ball are very important to us. When he plays in a wide position he maybe gets an average of 24 to 30 possessions, when he plays in the hole it’s maybe 46-50-55 possessions, so that’s very important to us, because he can play the final ball that we’re looking for.

“He’s not quite as quick as he used to be, but he can be very effective because he’s got a good football brain. He finds good spaces in that area, he can handle the ball when he’s marked. There’s not many of our players who can receive the ball when they’re marked, but he can deal with it and he can deal with the man who’s making him, he can roll and turn him and come out with the ball and get us going in an attacking mode.”

Allardyce will give his players some time off before Saturday’s FA Cup game at Arsenal, after which his side can begin to put together a run of results, with Swansea and Bournemouth next on the agenda.

“You don’t need to do too much to pick up the odd win here and there, to get you to the level of points you need and beyond it,” said Allardyce. “An undefeated run is what we need. We need more of that in our make-up.

“We achieved what we needed to and we can enjoy ourselves, give the lads who’ve played all the games a little bit of rest, because we’ve got a massive week coming next week with three games in less than seven days.

“They need to get some down time, need to chill out and get some brain space and reinvigorate themselves physically and mentally and hopefully we can make 2016 a bit easier than the end of 2015.”