Kenwyne confident he’ll win over fans

Jul 15 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

KENWYNE Jones believes Sunderland supporters will see him back to his best again when the new campaign starts – thanks to a full and injury-free pre-season.

Jones missed an entire summer and the first weeks of the Premier League season with a knee injury last year and, though he was able to make an immediate impact on his return, he faded badly as the campaign wore on.

Hardly helped by being played alongside Djibril Cisse in a partnership that singularly failed to gel, Jones was singled out for criticism by some supporters and has been continually linked with a move.

Despite signing Fraizer Campbell and tracking Peter Crouch and Darren Bent, Steve Bruce has no intention of letting him go – and the Trinidad & Tobago striker is adamant he can win over his detractors now he is fully fit and properly prepared for a new campaign.

"This time last year I was getting prepared for surgery. Thankfully I came through that, and I got fit-ish for the rest of last season," he said at a function to mark Sunderland’s efforts to be a 2018 host city.

"Now I am hoping to have a good pre-season and press on for the new season ahead. I feel like I really missed pre-season last summer.

"Things happen for a reason, and that happened and I couldn’t be involved. But this year I am really happy to be involved with pre- season from the start. It will make a difference to my performances.

"It is hard to get really fit if you don’t do the pre-season work. During the season, you really feel the benefit of the work you have put in during the summer.