George Honeyman named Sunderland captain '“ Jack Ross reveals why

Honeyman has endured a turbulent summer amid rumours of a potential move away, but has impressed the Black Cats boss and played a full part in pre-season.

Having worn the armband in a number of pre-season games, he has now been given the responsibility permanently and Ross has no doubts that he will make a success of it.

Ross said: “I spoke with George at length on Monday and then spoke to the players on Tuesday morning, he’ll take that responsibility on permanently.

“George has an unbelievable attitude, a fantastic approach to training.

“He’s endured some challenges this summer for various reasons and his desire, work-rate and energy levels on the pitch are outstanding.

“He has a real desire to be a successful captain here and the first test of that is can you go and lift the trophy at the end of the season.

“He’s a young man to take it on but he is absolutely delighted, chuffed to have that responsibility. It’s a really good fit for us and he’ll grow with that responsibility.

“Initially how I found him and how he want about things, it made him a relatively obvious choice to take it on in some pre-season games.

“He handled that really well, and I think he’s got a huge amount of qualities for the role.”

Ross again played down suggestions that Honeyman was eager to leave the club following relegation to League One and said that he has been left in absolutely no doubt as to his commitment to the cause.

He said: “My direct conversations with players have been a bit different to some of the comments that you’ve seen made.

“Sometimes information can be passed through third parties that isn’t always entirely reflective of a player’s opinion.

“Do players want to play at the highest level they can? Of course they do. But there are a lot of different things in the mix.

“The important thing is what I see, and that’s what I base my decisions on.

“Never once have I seen from George anything less than him being absolutely committed to this club. I hope people understand that.

“He’s come through the ranks at this club and he loves this club. He has suffered over the last few years, as a lot of people have, but the difference between George and some of the other ones is that it still stings him, he is still hurting.

“He wants to take the club forward and he sees this as a really good opportunity to do that.

“If you take on the captaincy, it is a symbol. The captain lifts silverware and for him to become one of that number at this club, it is a huge carrot for him.”

Ross is not intending to appoint a vice-captain and says that Honeyman has a number of senior players in the squad that he can call upon.

“We haven’t spoken about that role [vice captain],” he said. “I worked on the premise of not having that role to begin with.

“In the squad, I’ve got Lee (Cattermole) who has vast experience of being captain, I’ve got Glenn (Loovens). Alim (Ozturk) was captain at Hearts as a youngster, Dylan (McGeouch) has a lot of qualities in terms of taking responsibility on the pitch.

“The one thing about George is that he is a popular figure in the changing room.

“I’m not saying you have to be popular, but he has the respect of the other players and they will be supportive of him which strengthens his own position.”