Sunderland AFC news: Cats tracking ace striker and why Allardyce spoke to Manchester United legend

Jack Rodwell has been on the fringes this season

For the very latest Sunderland AFC news follow our live blog:Sunderland have today been linked with a summer move for Oxford United striker Kemar Roofe, with a host of Premier League sides reported to be tracking the in-form striker.

The Sun report Sunderland, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn have checked on Roofe.

The 23-year-old has scored 25 goals this season for Michael Appleton's side.

Meanwhile, Allardyce has been speaking about the frustrated squad players he has at his disposal - and why it will benefit Sunderland.

And he has revealed he has been speaking to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

Allardyce said: "You know you’ll have to disappoint a player, but you can tell them that it’s really not their fault, whereas most of the time if I leave a player out, it’s because their performances have dipped.

"I was speaking to Ryan Giggs about this the other day.

"He’d say Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) would come up to him and say ‘get ready for Manchester City in three weeks’.

"He was wondering why he wasn’t going to play for the next three weeks!

"But we have to think about who we’re playing against and when you’ve got a good and healthy squad - who are determined to fight for their place - you can make changes."

Click here for the full story:And finally, Allardyce is holding his pre-match press conference this afternoon and Chris Young will be providing live updates from the Academy of Light.

For the very best build-up ahead of the Leicester City game follow our live blog.

For the very latest Sunderland AFC news follow our live blog:

* Get the new Sunderland Echo app and always be first with the news from our city and SAFC.

You can download our free app on most devices and it can be found on your app store by searching for 'Sunderland Echo'.

Or click here to download from Google Play.

And here to download from Apple's App Store.