SUNDERLAND 10 YEARS AGO: Nyatanga wants to stay, loan men will return

LET ME STAY!

Nyatanga wants to remain a Black Cat

LEWIN NYATANGA says he is happy to stay at Sunderland Football Club either until the end of the season or even permanently.

And the 18-year-old says he would love to see his loan deal at the Stadium of Light extended in next month’s January transfer window.

He told the Echo: “I would love to stay at Sunderland to the end of the season. Definitely. I’ve enjoyed my time here and I’m pleased that I’ve played a lot of games.

“Everyone around the club has been great with me and if the deal was to be extended or even become permanent then that would be fine with me.”

While most footballers don’t look forward to the taxing demands of a packed festive programme, the young Welsh international sees it as a case of opportunity knocks. And he knows it could be his last bid to impress at Sunderland.

The teenage Derby County defender – the second-youngest player ever capped by Wales – is due to return to Pride Park in the New Year when his loan expires.

And he views the games before the turn of the year as a chance to gain more first-team appearances and prove his long-term future should lie on Wearside.

He said: “I’m pleased that there’s quite a few games coming up in the next few days because hopefully that will give me a chance to break back into the team. I’ve been on the bench in the last few matches, which is a bit disappointing but something you have to accept in the right spirit.

“I’m only young and the club might have decided it’s right to take me out of the side for a while. But I’m desperate to get a few more games under my belt.

“And I know that having quite a few games in a short space of time might mean the manager shuffling his squad and giving me a chance to get back in.”

KEANE WILL BRING BACK LOAN PLAYERS

ROY KEANE says he plans to bring back ALL the club’s loan signings.

Sunderland currently have a massive ten players out on temporary deals up and down the country but the manager told the Echo today that every one of them is scheduled to return to Wearside next month.

And he admits that if he’d has his time again, he might not have sent so many out. He said: “The plan is to being them all back. With hindsight, I might not have let so many go because we really have been down to the bare bones in the last few weeks. And I do think that to a certain extent we’ve been getting away with it in terms of squads and results.”

Many of the players currently playing their football away from Sunderland are at clubs higher in the league table than the Wearsiders.

John Stead is at Derby County, Tommy Miller at Preston and Liam Lawrence and Rory Delap at Stoke City.

Other players out include Andy Welsh at Leicester City, Neill Collins at Wolves, Arnau at Southend, William Mocquet at Rochdale, Kevin Smith at Wrexham and Clive Clarke at Coventry.

The only player likely to stay with his club is Delap, who has broken his leg and is out for the season. The return of the loan men will strengthen Keane’s squad but he is also looking to bring in other players in the January transfer window.

The latest players linked with the club this morning were Cork City striker Roy O’Donovan, Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson and Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, who has been recalled to Old Trafford halfway through a season-long loan at Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp.

But Keane told the Echo that he does now know yet who will be coming in. He said: “Your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not we’ll be able to get in the plates we’re after. I hear the list of the players you’ve mentioned but I have to say, who haven’t we been linked with?

“Names are going to be drawn up all the time but it’s pointless speculating on that at this stage. We’ll find out over the next few weeks what, if any, business can be done.”

Derby appear favourites to land Pearson, who has just six months left on his Parkhead contract, although agent Willie Mackay said: Derby, Sunderland and Norwich have all shown concrete interest.”

Ipswich are also interested in both O’Donovan and Evans.