Tuesday 24 November 2015 16:09, UK
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has avoided serious ankle damage, Sky Sports News HQ understands.
The 33-year-old is expected to be fit to play for Sunderland against Stoke City this weekend.
Defoe scored the 80th-minute winner in a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace, live on Monday Night Football, but was substituted six minutes later with a knock.
He subsequently told Sky Sports that he was hopeful it was not serious, after working hard to reach peak sharpness in front of goal.
"The only positive is that I can put weight on it. I just hope it's not ligaments," he said.
"I've worked hard, kept making runs in behind, and I felt sharp throughout the game. People always say that when you work hard you get rewarded, and I think that happened - that little bit of luck that you need.
"I was just delighted when I went through and put it away."
Defoe has scored seven times in 12 appearances so far this season, having joined Sunderland from Toronto in January.
In the second half of the 2014/15 season he found the net four times in 19 appearances as Dick Advocaat kept Sunderland in the the Premier League, before he was replaced by Sam Allardyce in October.
