SUNDERLAND are ready to step up efforts to land a new forward this week with Sam Allardyce still pursuing top target Andre Ayew from Swansea City.

The Black Cats, who have already added Trabzonspor striker Dame N’Doye, are understood to have made a couple of firm offers for the Ghana international and sources in France have claimed the latest bid was in the region of £14m.

Swansea are reluctant to sell the former Marseille man to a relegation rival, knowing his seven goals since his switch last summer have provided a bright spot to a pretty depressing campaign.

But that has not put off Sunderland and Allardyce – also linked with Sporting Lisbon’s Islam Slimani - is pressing to get a deal done before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Allardyce, who is also prepared to listen to offers for a number of his players, is determined to make further additions after Saturday’s 4-1 at Tottenham when Sunderland dropped back down to 19th and they are now three points from safety.

His assistant, Paul Bracewell, did the majority of media duties at White Hart Lane because the manager wasn’t feeling well.

Bracewell said: “As you could imagine, we're all working behind the scenes, like most clubs at this time of the season. There's a lot of speculation, and I think usually the party line is we'll let you know when anything's happening.”

Allardyce’s gamble to throw new signing Jan Kirchhoff on in the second half as a third centre-back at Tottenham backfired.

The former Bayern Munich centre-back looked off the pace when he was thrust into action and he helped Christian Eriksen’s second goal fly in before giving away a penalty for a foul on Danny Rose.

Asked if Kirchhoff was shell-shocked, Bracewell said: “We all were, to be honest. It goes back to conceding two or three goals in a very short period of time, and it kills us.

“We've spoken about, even if they get back in the game, not opening up and letting it become two and three and four. We need to learn that very, very quickly and stop that.

“We need to get in front and keep our noses in front, and stop conceding goals very, very quickly in a short period of time.”

While it was a debut to forget for Kirchhoff in North London, it was a far better day from an individual point of view for Sunderland’s other Premier League debutant that day.

Jordan Pickford, 21, made a number of fine saves despite conceding four goals and Bracewell explained why the young man from Washington was preferred ahead of Vito Mannone.

“Obviously he came in for the FA Cup and played at Arsenal, and did very well. I thought he did excellently. His kicking was excellent, you know, we changed the goalkeepers for that,” said Bracewell.

“He made some good saves. He'll be disappointed, like we all are, that four goals have gone past him. He didn't really deserve that but that's the Premier League for you, you get punished.

“Am I surprised by how well he's adapted to it? No, as part of his development he's been out on loan and had a fantastic time. We were always going to, with a view to, bring him back in January (from Preston loan). We'll have a good look this week and see how he does.”

Bracewell also singled out Patrick van Aanholt, who scored for the second game in a row, for praise after another much-improved performance from his earlier outings this season.

He said: “To be honest, earlier on in the season there was a lot of concern about Patrick defensively. He's tightened that up, and done really well.

“But he's also been a real threat going forward. It was a good ball by Adam Johnson and a good finish from Patrick. But we need to make sure we keep it tight at the back and not concede those goals again, you know.”