Wide boy Fraizer happy to be right
Fraizer Campbell is relishing life in Sunderland – and looking to maintain a first-team place for the run-in.
The former Manchester United striker has operated on the right of midfield in recent games, with Sunderland finding form to move away from danger at the wrong end of the Premier League.
And Campbell believes he has learned a lot from his first few months on Wearside – and says that can only benefit the Black Cats.
The 22-year-old said: "I feel I'm a better player now than I was when I arrived. I'm learning about a new position and that makes me more valuable to the team.
"I can do a job out there as well as up front.
"I feel as though I've got a lot better on the right side of midfield.
"Playing in front of Alan Hutton has helped. I knew him from Tottenham and we work well together.
"I've learnt a lot over the last few months and I'm enjoying it at the minute. Sometimes you don't see much of the ball out there, and that can be difficult to get used to.
"But the last few games we've played well and we've been attacking down both wings so I've been a lot more involved in things.
"It does take time to adapt to a new position, but the more I've played there the better I've got.
"I still see myself as a striker, but I've been playing on the right, doing well, the team has been doing well and I've been enjoying it, so I'm happy to stay there."
Campbell has only had 10 league starts this term, and the 3.5million summer signing admitted: "I was a little frustrated at the start of the season. The team was doing really well and I wasn't getting much of a chance.
"Then the team started doing badly, but I was in and out of the side and it's difficult to get going what that happens.
"Now we're doing well though and I'm in the team, things seem a lot better. I want to stay in the team and we want to carry on playing well and get as far away from the bottom as we can."
Sunderland went close to beating Manchester City after finally ending their 14-match winless streak against Bolton.
And Campbell, whose first-minute strike against the Trotters sparked the vital win, said: "The mood has lifted.
"It's amazing what a few points can do for you. We've won a game and drawn one and spirits have been lifted massively.
"It does sound weird in a sense, but I think we have remembered what a good side we are. At the start of the season we were playing some good football and looked a decent team.
"Then came the bad patch, and it was really difficult to get out of it. That first win against Bolton, though, changed everything and we are starting to play like we know we can.
"We still can't work out why we had such a slump. Perhaps the penny dropped because when you looked at the table, it wasn't pleasant. We've turned it around, though, and we want to carry that on."
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
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