Sunderland defender Younes Kaboul feels he is still far from full fitness but the club's summer recruit is confident he will be back at his best soon as his team search for their first win this season.

The 29-year-old Frenchman joined Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur and has struggled for form and fitness during the club's previous matches in their Premier League campaign.

"I'm still a bit far from my best because I didn't have a pre-season, but I'm working hard every day in training to make sure that I'm at it at the weekend," Kaboul told the club's website (www.safc.com).

"I felt better against Villa and I felt better again on Saturday so step by step I will get there."

Sunderland, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, sit second from bottom in the Premier League table with two points from five matches.

Ryan Mason's 82nd-minute dinked effort consigned them to a defeat against Spurs at the Stadium of Light but Kaboul said it was a positive performance from Sunderland.

"We had a good game and we lost it, but what I'm going to keep is that we played good and I'm very happy especially with the mentality that we had on the pitch and the spirit," he added.

"We'll recover and then prepare to kick on to get a positive result next week."

Sunderland make the trip to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday to face promoted side Bournemouth, who lie 16th in the table.