Danny is prepared to wait for his chance

May 1 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

DANNY Higginbotham has accepted he will have to adopt a wait-and-see approach to whether he will still be part of Sunderland’s plans next season.

Higginbotham has certainly played his part in keeping the Black Cats in the Premier League following his £2.5m move from Stoke City back in August with 20 appearances so far this season.

But no Black Cats player is safe from the chop over the summer as manager Roy Keane and chairman Niall Quinn plan for a hectic summer of comings and goings at the Stadium of Light.

The Wearsiders have already been linked with a huge range of players, both at home and abroad, with Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady the latest name to be thrown into the melting pot over the last few days. But for Higginbotham, the speculation does not unsettle him as he argued all he could do was fight for his place if other defenders are brought in before the start of next season.

“I know there’s going to be speculation about players coming in and out during the summer but, to be honest, I’m not really interested in it at all,” said Higginbotham, who has scored important goals in North East derbies against Newcastle and Middlesbrough this season. “It’s one of those things – the club makes decisions and they’re going to be signing players and letting some players go. That’s just the way that football works.

“People are speculating about things all the time, but I don’t really tend to get too involved with all that type of thing. I’d rather just wait until someone has actually arrived and then take it from there. Some people might think that we’re playing for our

places in the last two matches, but I don’t look at it like that. I’m a footballer, so my job is to give everything in every game I play. This is a club with big expectations now, and I’m sure they’re going to do everything in the summer to move things on to the next level.”

For now, though, Higginbotham argued the players have more pressing concerns as they vow to ensure they do not go to Bolton on Saturday as willing sacrificial lambs in the home side’s relegation battle.

Bolton desperately need to take all three points as they strive to remain in the top flight, particularly as their final game of the season is a trip to Chelsea. Higginbotham is delighted Sunderland no longer have to worry about the drop, but he is adamant they will not do their opponents any favours.

He explained: “We’re happy that it’s all over and we’re safe, definitely. Obviously it’s nice to get safe with a couple of games to go. We have a couple of games now where we can just concentrate on getting as high up the league as we can. Nobody’s going to be taking their foot off the gas. Everybody’s going to be working hard. If anyone thinks we’ll be slackening off just because we’re safe, they’re wrong.

“Every place in the table is worth money to the club, but that won’t be the main thing we’re thinking about. It’s a factor, but we’re all professionals and we would be wanting to win these games even if it didn’t make any difference to the finances. The higher up in the league you are at the end of the season, the bigger an achievement it is. That’s the way I’m looking at things, and I think it’ll be true for the rest of the lads as well.”

Higginbotham has not been an automatic choice in defence since Jonny Evans returned to Wearside in January. And as the Northern Ireland international is fit again after a calf problem, Higginbotham is likely to drop back down to the bench against Bolton. But the former Manchester United prospect is relaxed about the situation as he believes the Premier League has become a squad game. He added: “I think this season has proved that you need a squad if you’re going to survive in the Premier League. Whenever players have had to come in to the first team, they’ve come in and done a really good job. That’s what it’s all about now. It’s a squad game and you know that you’re always going to get opportunities. It’s whether or not you take those opportunities that counts.

“There are going to be times when there are injuries and suspensions, and you have to be ready to come in and make an impact. I think a lot of our players have been really good at that this season. It’s a squad and everybody within that squad has played their part.”