TOP GUN Kevin Phillips, who is struggling to reproduce the scintillating Sunderland form which made him the most lethal striker in Europe last season, blames an injury hangover for his current goal drought.

The 27-year-old woke up in his French hotel during Sunderland's pre-season build-up with a mystery knee injury which wrecked his preparations for the new Premiership campaign.

And just as he was getting back into the swing of things he fell heavily during last month's defeat at Ipswich and sustained a shoulder injury which forced his withdrawal from the England squad and severely restricted his training programme.

Phillips, whose 30 goals last season helped lift Sunderland into seventh place in the table and earned him the Premiership Player of the year Award and two Golden Boot trophies at home and abroad, has scored only once in five games - his worst run in the top flight.

And, as fans feared, once Phillips starts to struggle, Sunderland struggle.

Phillips, who knows he has fallen behind Andy Cole and Michael Owen in the England pecking order since Alan Shearer's retirement from the international stage, failed to impress the watching Kevin Keegan in the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford, when he did not produce one shot on target.

The disappointing run, however, has not dented Phillips' confidence.

As questions are being asked about his lack of goals - last season he scored four in his opening five matches - Phillips said defiantly: "Once I'm back to my sharpest I know I'll score goals."

The little striker explained: "It's been a tough start to the season because I had no pre-season and as a result I'm a long way short of match fitness.

"In the Premiership the smallest dip in your level of fitness can make a big difference and that's a disadvantage.

"The main disappointment about the shoulder injury which made me pull out of the England squad was that again I've been limited to the amount of training I can do, so it had again been difficult trying to get myself 100 percent fit.

"But I know I'm getting fitter all the time and I'm hoping I can start scoring the goals in the next few weeks that will remind people I'm still around."

Sunderland fans have been anxious in recent games about the level of service Phillips and his strike-partner Niall Quinn, have been receiving. There have been noisy demands for the recall of right winger Nicky Summerbee, but manager Peter Reid has explained his absence by saying that the player has insisted he is not match fit.

Reid has tried to improve the supply of crosses to his front men by switching Republic of ireland winger Kevin Kilbane to the right flank and introducing 19-year-old exciting Argentinian prospect Julio Arca to Premiership football earlier than expected.

But the service still leaves a lot to be desired and Reid admitted that he was disappointed with the number of chances his side created at Old Trafford on Saturday.

But the Wearside boss still has the utmost confidence in Phillips and believes that once his level of fitness is back to normal he will resume his prolific goalscoring output