Far from enjoying return – George McCartney

Nov 26 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

GEORGE McCartney admits his Sunderland return has been a “nightmare” – but insists he is still committed to turning things round at the Stadium of Light.

The Northern Ireland defender was a deadline-day signing by Roy Keane last September after being earmarked as the long-term solution in Sunderland’s troublesome left-back spot.

But a succession of niggling injuries over the last 12 months have conspired to make his Wearside comeback an underwhelming one, with even the player himself admitting he has yet to convince Black Cats boss Steve Bruce.

He has begun that process with decent performances at Tottenham and in the defeat of Arsenal on Saturday, but McCartney (pictured right) recognises he needs to stay fit if he is to return to the levels he hit during his last stint at Sunderland.

With speculation continuing to link Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa with a move to Wearside, a run of games couldn’t come at a better time. McCartney has already found himself the unwitting subject of speculation after it was claimed he was on the verge of a move to Hull in September – reports that took both the Northern Ireland man and his manager by surprise.

Talk of a Black Cats exit frustrated the 28-year-old, who is confident that he can play a major part in Bruce’s revolution given a sustained run in the team.

“To be honest I wouldn’t say I’ve been 100% fit yet. I had a hamstring injury a few weeks back and I was still having problems at the start of the season,” he said.

“Since I have come back to Sunderland it has been a bit of a nightmare. It’s been a matter of me trying to keep myself fit and train every day which I haven’t been able to do to this point.

“I want to stay in the team and play as many matches as I can because I know what I’m capable of doing. But with the injuries I haven’t shown that yet. I’m sure in time, when I get myself fit again, I’ll be able to show what I can do.

“I’m not really happy with how things have gone but I’m happy to be at Sunderland.” With Kieran Richardson

now pushed forward into a midfield role, McCartney can cement his place at left-back with another good display at Wigan in a game Sunderland are rightly wary of.

The season has followed a disturbing pattern of playing well against one of the big guns and then collapsing against the so-called lesser lights, and McCartney is wary of further disappointment at the DW Stadium.

Indeed in the wake of Wigan’s 9-1 thumping at Spurs, he believes the Black Cats will be facing a highly-motivated Latics team desperate to bounce back strongly.

“This year we’ve beaten the top teams and we’re going into the Wigan game thinking it’s one of the easier matches – no disrespect to Wigan” he said. “It’s certainly a game we feel we should be winning.

“It was an amazing result – we played Tottenham a few weeks ago and I wasn’t too impressed with them. But to beat any Premier league team by nine takes some doing.

“Obviously Wigan will be hurting and will be looking to put it right this weekend. It will be a very difficult game, especially at their place and their manager will have them right up for it.

“We have been performing really well over the last few weeks without getting results – that changed on Saturday (against Arsenal).

“And hopefully we will go into that Wigan game with that extra bit of confidence because of it.”