The French striker scored a debut winner for Sunderland against Spurs on Saturday – securing his new club's first league win at White Hart Lane in 30 years.

Cisse obviously still needs to work on his fitness, but Diouf said the way he took his only chance against Tottenham is proof of the striker's capabilities.

"Djibril will be one of the top scorers in the Premier League, I know it," enthused the former Bolton attacker.

"It is great for him to be at Sunderland and great for the Premier League to have him.

"This is the world's best league and he can show everyone now how good he is.

"It was a great finish and a perfect start. But it's no surprise to me that he did that or that we won the game."

Cisse was blowing at the end and clearly needs time on the pitch to boost his match fitness.

Diouf said: "He will be fit quickly. He joined us only a few days ago and it was a tiring time.

"We have great options now and all of the new players have settled in.
"There is already a great atmosphere in the squad. It feels good – it feels positive."

Kieran Richardson opened the scoring for Sunderland in a frantic second-half at White Hart Lane.

Ex-Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas levelled before Cisse – on as a 65th-minute sub – rose to power home a header from Daryl Murphy's fine cross eight minutes from time.

"We knew we could get something at Spurs," said Diouf, whose cross led to Richardson's thunderbolt opener.

"This is the new Sunderland and we know what we can achieve. Tottenham are a good football team but we believed we could get a result there.

"I have heard that the away results were not so good last season, but this is a different team – everyone knows that.

"We should have got a draw against Liverpool, and now we have beaten Spurs.

"I think our performances have shown why we can believe in having a great season.

"I don't see why we shouldn't get into the top eight."