Burnley defender reveals why he spurned Championship interest to sign for Sunderland

New Sunderland signing Jimmy Dunne has revealed he turned down interest from the Championship to join Jack Ross on Wearside.
Jimmy Dunne warming up ahead of the Luton Town game.Jimmy Dunne warming up ahead of the Luton Town game.
Jimmy Dunne warming up ahead of the Luton Town game.

The Burnley defender, who spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Hearts, has joined Sunderland on a loan deal until the end of the season.

He was an unused sub for the 1-1 draw with Luton Town at the Stadium of Light having arrived in the middle of last week and he faces the challenge of forcing his way into the side past first choice centre-back pairing Jack Baldwin and Tom Flanagan.

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Dunne has revealed there was interest from higher up the football league pyramid but wanted to test himself at Sunderland, third in League One.

Dunne told LMFM in Ireland: "I was really enjoying myself [at Hearts] and got some great experience in, and it just shows how quickly football can change.

"My injury took me past the loan date so that when the date of the loan passed I had to weigh up my options and I just felt coming to Sunderland would be another great step for my development.

"That period shown in the [Netflix] documentary is not where the club are at now.

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"It's a club that appears to be on the up - especially with how they're performing this season and how positive the fans are. It's certainly a different club to how its portrayed in the documentary.

"I had to weigh up my options. I had to consider would I be better at a Championship club who might potentially get relegated, or would I be better at a League One club that is massive - is really a Premier League club - and has a good chance of getting promoted?

"I thought that the best decision was to be the team on the up, rather than a team in a higher league but under the cosh all the time."