Ex-striker Jason Roberts believes Sunderland are not giving Jermain Defoe an opportunity to win games for them due to being unable to keep a clean sheet.
Sunderland are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and lost 2-0 away at Everton on Saturday, taking the total number of goals conceded in their 26 league matches so far to 48.
The Black Cats have netted 24 league goals, with 14 of those being scored by Defoe.
Roberts thinks Defoe is going above and beyond for Sunderland, with the club lucky to be able to call on his services, but he believes they are not making the most of his talents due to a leaky backline.
"I think Jermain Defoe is doing more than his job", Roberts said on the BBC's Final Score programme.
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"I said Sunderland are lucky to have Jermain Defoe and I didn't mean that disparagingly to Sunderland.
"What I mean is when you're bottom of the league you shouldn't have someone who scores 14, 15 goals consistently.
"That just doesn't tally.
"But they do have someone like that and that's the only way they are going to get out of this situation.
"The issue is they can't keep clean sheets to give them an opportunity to make sure when he gets that chance that's three points as opposed to a draw", he added.
Sunderland saw off interest from West Ham in Defoe in the January transfer window and are banking on the 34-year-old continuing to be amongst the goals until the end of the season.
In total, Defoe has scored 36 goals for Sunderland since joining the club in 2015.
