Sunderland defender makes honest admission after encouraging start to pre-season follows injury nightmare

Dennis Cirkin says he is still working his way back to his very best but is relishing the chance to be back wearing the red-and-white shirt.

One of the key positives for Sunderland so far this pre season is that Cirkin has been fully fit from day one, so far coming through the opening fixtures unscathed and getting stronger with every appearance. The 22-year-old was only able to make nine appearances across all competitions last season due to injury, a campaign that he candidly admits was one of the toughest of his career so far.

As with the club more generally, Cirkin hopes the start of the 2024/25 campaign means a fresh chapter.

"My first reaction when anyone mentions anything, the heat or anything, is that i'm just grateful to be back playing," he told The Echo.

"No matter how hard it is and how hard pre-season gets, I'm just enjoying every single session and every minute of the experience, whether that's on or off the pitch.

"It's a work in progress, for sure. I'm not yet where I want to be, definitely. But that's what pre season for and I was able to come into it fully fit which is what I needed. It was one of the toughest years I've had, but I came out of it having learned a lot more than I had in any other years I've had. To be honest, I don't really want to look back because it can be difficult, looking back and trying to understand what went wrong, what you could have done and sometimes I think it's just better to take what you can from it, learn what you can from it, and then just leave it in the past.

"It's a good feeling here, it's early days and we're all getting to know the gaffer and vice versa," he added.

"We've had a lot of meetings already and we feel it's going to be a good one [season], those relationships are building. A new season always feels like a new start and you can't dwell too much on the past, it's about learning and trying to change what you can in the future. It's been a while since I've played competitively, so I'm excited to see what I can do and what I can maybe bring to this team. There's a lot of different dynamics in the team so that's exciting and interesting to see how that's going to go. I've had a few good chats with the new head coach as all of us have, and it's gone well so far.

"I'm hoping I can help the team, goals and assists, and to be honest to just get down that left side again because it's my favourite thing in the world. It's nice to link up with Jack [Clarke] again as well, he's a brilliant player and our connection on the pitch is second to none. I'm looking forward to see him doing his thing again, it's just exciting."

Sunderland end their pre-season tour of Spain against CD Eldense at the Pinatar Arena on Sunday evening (7pm KO).