Pierre Ekwah's interview Sunderland fans will love after ex-West Ham man makes first Cats start at Burnley

The 21-year-old midfielder joined the Black Cats from West Ham in January but has needed to be patient for first-team opportunities on Wearside.

Ekwah was handed his chance in Sunderland’s goalless draw at Burnley, where he played 64 minutes during a hard-fought match against the Championship leaders.

“Obviously you can’t just walk into a team that are doing that well then just expect a first start,” Ekwah told Sunderland’s website after the match at Turf Moor. “You have to work hard to get this and I think I did.

“The gaffer thought I did, so he put me in so I really appreciate that and am looking forward to getting some more starts.”

When asked how he’s found his first few months at Sunderland, Ekwah replied: “I’m liking it, I’m liking it a lot.

“Obviously they gave me my first professional game and my first start. I’m just liking the fans especially. Playing at home, as soon as you play at the Stadium of Light you can play anywhere.

“It showed now, the boys weren’t impressed by the fans (at Burnley). I mean they’ve got good fans but our fans are better.

“I didn’t really know about how much they can travel and I’ve seen that especially when we went down to London. Now coming to Burnley I’m like, wow they travel everywhere.

“Everywhere we go they’re here, they’re filling up the stadium, you can hear them and it’s brilliant. I really thank them for what they are doing every single week.”

Ekwah will now hope to gain more starts during Sunderland’s final seven games of the season, starting with a home fixture against Hull on Friday.

“Obviously once you finish a game in the Championship you don’t have time to rest and you have to go back at it the next week,” he added.

“It’s good and I love playing games, I’d rather be playing games than just train.

“We just have to focus on the next game and try to do our best for the rest of the season.”