Jermain Defoe has shared his excitement ahead of the 2016-17 Premier League campaign and has challenged his teammates to achieve something special.
Renowned for his goalscoring prowess, Defoe played an invaluable role last season as his 15 league goals helped Sunderland secure their top-flight status for a 10th consecutive year.
With a dramatic winner against Chelsea an obvious highlight for the 33-year-old, that proved to be just one of five goals Defoe scored in his last nine appearances as he helped guide the Lads to a strong finish.
The striker’s fine efforts then earned him a contract extension to keep him on Wearside until 2019, and speaking to safc.com Defoe revealed that team spirit can play a huge part in helping the Black Cats achieve a memorable season next year.
“I can’t wait (for the new season) because people always talk about setting yourself challenges to try and be better than last season,” he said.
“As a team we want to be in a position where come Christmas we can think about pushing on and doing something special.
“The spirit we had (last season) was amazing so it’s important to keep us all together, stick together and hopefully we can just focus on the first five games of the new season,” he continued.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge again and hopefully as a group we can do something special this year.”
