TORONTO - Brazilian forward Gilberto says English star Jermain Defoe will have to win back his starting position with Toronto FC.

Defoe returned to the club this week after nursing a groin injury in England. He is not expected to play until Oct. 4 in Los Angeles against the Galaxy at the earliest.

Asked if he and Defoe had developed a good rapport on the field earlier in the season, Gilberto said the relationship between the two forwards had always been good.

He then talked up the team attack in Defoe's absence.

"Our strikers have been playing well, Luke (Moore) has been playing well since Defoe's been gone, for about four to six weeks," he said Friday through an interpreter. "So it's kind of like Defoe has to win his spot back on the team because our strikers are playing really well now. We've got other guys that are training really hard and fighting and Defoe's got to start training hard now and working to get back into game shape."

Defoe leads the team with 11 goals in 16 games. Gilbert has seven in 24 outings while Moore has six in 21 games.