Full-time: Tottenham 2 Sunderland 1

GUS POYET claims Jermain Defoe’s arrival has transformed the mood at Sunderland, but the striker couldn’t address the team’s shortcomings in front of goal - at least not on this occasion.

For the first time in his career Defoe failed to score on his debut for a new club as the Black Cats were beaten by a late winner at White Hart Lane.

Christian Eriksen has established himself as Tottenham’s ‘go to’ man this season and the hope is that Defoe can make a similar impact at the Stadium of Light.

Defoe’s arrival has been hailed as a game changer in the Premier League, but on this evidence it would be foolish to suggest the 32-year-old can single-handedly steer Sunderland away from trouble.

Ironically, it was the same old reasons that prevented the Wearsiders from taking anything back to the North-East on Saturday night and the result will provide a timely reminder that Defoe’s arrival does not address other issues within the team.

Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham both missed clear chances to score, while Spurs’ first goal was the result of more calamitous defending from Santiago Vergini.

Given Defoe's goalscoring record, the former England international may well play a part in keeping the relegation demons at bay on Wearside this season but clearly there is still plenty of work to do.

The head coach abandoned the 4-1-4-1 formation he has persisted with for so long and instead played 3-5-2 with Defoe and Fletcher forming a two-man attack at White Hart Lane.

The change will be welcome in the eyes of many Sunderland supporters who have grown tired of watching their side struggle to put the opposition under pressure, but Poyet’s experimentation with 3-5-2 lasted only three games last campaign and the jury is out whether the Uruguayan has the right players to utilise this system.

He admitted in the aftermath of Saturday’s game that Defoe needs to play as part of a front two and it is a risk to make such significant changes to accommodate one player.

At least he is trying something different, though, and Jack Rodwell believes things will only improve as they spend more time working on it in training.

“I think we came in at the end of the game and all the lads had put a good shift in. We were knackered,” said the midfielder, who returned from a groin injury to play.

“But I thought we created a few chances. In the first half Fletch (Steven Fletcher) had a golden opportunity and Danny's on another day could have gone in. We're disappointed we didn't take those chances.

“I thought it (new formation) worked well. We found out on the morning of the game what formation we were going to play.

“We'd looked at it earlier in the week when we'd worked on two different formations. It worked all right.

“I think we created the most chances we've created in a long time. We can only get better.

“Now we've got Jermain up front hopefully the goals will come. That's the main thing we've been lacking this season, goals.

“It's been well documented that we've looked solid and we didn't look like we were going to concede. The first goal was a bit of a freak when we got caught on the counter-attack.”

All the pre-match talk has surrounded Defoe’s return to White Hart Lane, but it wasn’t before long that the Black Cats found themselves behind.

Vergini’s made a mess of clearing Eriksen’s ball into the box and it fell at the feet of Jan Vertonghen to blast home past Costel Pantilimon via a deflection.

Sunderland responded and Defoe looked lively playing on the shoulder of the last defender, but his lack of games told as he was flagged offside while trying to steal a yard on Vertonghen.

The battle between the two could have resulted in a penalty for the visitors when the former Toronto FC front man went down under the Spurs defender, and although Poyet highlighted the moment in his post match press duties, replays suggest it would have been harsh on the hosts.

While he didn’t manage a debut goal, Defoe did play a part in the Black Cats equaliser when he tangled with Vertonghen again on the half hour mark to earn a free-kick.

Up stepped Seb Larsson and produced a stunning curler from 25-yards.

Before the goal, Fletcher somehow missed a sitter three yards out from Billy Jones’ right wing delivery, and after the break John O’Shea, Wes Brown and Vergini stood firm under pressure.

Poyet introduced Connor Wickham and then Graham and with time ticking Sunderland created the best chances to take the lead.

Lloris parried Adam Johnson’s long range effort into the path of Graham, but he couldn’t get enough weight behind the rebound to trouble the Spurs keeper.

Moments later Andros Townsend surged down the right and squared for Eriksen to sweep the ball home in off the post from the edge of the area.

It was a bitter blow, but to Sunderland’s credit they came back and almost grabbed a late goal of their own.

Graham went through on goal and looked sure to score, but Lloris made a brilliant save to turn away the striker’s shot.

“I think we can look to the rest of the season with confidence,” insisted Rodwell. “It's a great signing that we've bought Jermain Defoe, a goalscorer, so I think we've got the depth squad.

“We've been a bit unlucky in games and we were unlucky on Saturday, so we've just got to keep chipping away.”