Sunderland and Senegal defender Papy Djilobodji would welcome international recall

The 27-year-old has been capped 12 times by Senegal.

But the centre-back hasn’t featured for his country since early 2015 and admits there is “history” between himself and current national head coach Aliou Cisse.

Djilobodji would welcome a call-up, with the Africa Cup of Nations taking place in January.

Sunderland are likely to be without Lamine Kone (Ivory Coast), Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia) and Didier Ndong (Gabon) for the tournament at the turn of the year.

When asked whether he hoped to win his international place back with a run in the Sunderland side, Djilobodji said: “You never know.

“I’m trying to work hard and win games here, but I’d like to go back.

“There’s a bit of history between me and the Senegalese national coach, but I’m sure that will clear.”

Djilobodji signed for Sunderland in the summer for £8million from Chelsea but the Black Cats have struggled this season and are currently six points from safety ahead of the visit of Hull City.

“We still have a lot of games to play to turn things around,” added Djilobodji.

“We’ll continue to work hard in order to be able to perform in the games.

“I think our determination is the thing that will keep us going.

“We know that this is not the end. We’re still in there fighting in the Premier League, and we’re absolutely together as a team.

“We want to win, and we like challenges.”