Sam Allardyce coy on Jan Kirchhoff debut

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has said that he has not yet made a decision on whether new signing Jan Kirchhoff will be thrown straight into the starting lineup against Swansea City on Wednesday.

Kirchhoff became the struggling Black Cats' first January signing when he arrived from Bayern Munich for a reported fee of £750,000 last week, but he has not started a first-team game since May.

Allardyce hopes to get the German up to speed in the next few days and confirmed that he would definitely be involved against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend even if he does not make the midweek match.

"We'll train him for the next couple of days and I think we'll probably take him in the squad [to face Swansea]. We'll probably make a decision [on Tuesday] whether we go with him as substitute or whether he starts," Allardyce told reporters.

"He'll certainly be involved against Tottenham. Hopefully he can hit the ground running. That's the hard bit for a young man who enters the Premier League for the first time at this time of year. Can they hit the ground running and can he produce what we know he can produce straight away? That's the hard bit.

"But it's the risk we had to take at this moment in time - one, with the quality of the player and two, with the position we're in - because for me we've got to do something more to become more resilient defensively."

Sunderland, who have the worst defensive record in the top flight this season, currently sit 19th in the Premier League table, four points from safety.