Jack Rodwell must rebuild career, Sam Allardyce says

Jack Rodwell's confidence has been damaged by his failure to make it at Manchester City, Sam Allardyce says.

The England midfielder started just seven Premier League games in two seasons at the Etihad and was sold to Sunderland in the summer of 2014.

Injuries and a fight for form have restricted Rodwell to 20 league starts on Wearside, although Lee Cattermole's absence could hand him a chance against Watford this weekend.

And Allardyce has admitted the 24-year-old faces a challenge to rebuild a career tipped for greatness when he broke into Everton's first team eight years ago.

"Everyone is saying 'what's happened to Jack Rodwell?'" the Sunderland boss said. "It's clear the number of niggling injuries he's had and the two years at Manchester City have caused him to lose his focus and his confidence.

"I think we've got to rebuild that and the only way to rebuild it is to make sure we keep Jack fit and training every day and that when selected he hopefully finds that confidence again.

"Jack burst onto the scene with Everton at 17 years old but since he went to Manchester City he has not played as often as he would have liked and that was a big move that didn't pay off."

Allardyce has won three of his seven games in charge, and Sunderland pushed Arsenal all the way last week before losing 3-1.

"We need to win this game to put together a run of four wins in eight games which will reap us 12 points in eight matches. That would be a fantastic start for me," he said.