He has been the one constant at the heart of a defence which has been the rock on which Sunderland’s season is built, but still Anton Ferdinand knows his place at the Stadium of Light, writes Stuart Rayner.

IT is neither glamorous nor sexy and has largely gone unnoticed, but Sunderland’s success this season has been built from the back.

Not since the mid-November win at Chelsea have the Black Cats’ first-choice centre-backs played together.

Injury-prone understudy John Mensah has featured in only four games since. Yet two thirds of the way into the campaign, they have conceded less goals than any team outside the top four.

Sunderland’s defensive strength carried them through the early part of the season when only Darren Bent could find the net, and the last two months when he seemed unable to.

Craig Gordon, Simon Mignolet, Titus Bramble, Michael Turner and Phil Bardsley have all had their share of the credit, and rightly so.

One person largely passed over when the praise has been dished out is Anton Ferdinand.

Having played there himself, Steve Bruce still harbours misgivings about the 25-year-old as a Premier League centre-back. Signed by Roy Keane for £8m two-and-a-half years ago, concentration lapses remain a concern – but bigger problems almost cost him his place at the Stadium of Light.

A pre-season row nearly saw Ferdinand shipped out to Italy, and even when Palermo’s interest came to nothing Ferdinand was conspicuously denied a squad number.

The suspicion remains that, made a decent offer in the summer, Bruce would gladly accept.

However, while those around him have been dropping like flies, Ferdinand has been a constant at the heart of Sunderland’s defence.

He has played in all of their last 11 games, during which time the Black Cats have conceded 12 goals.

His performances have not been as eye-catching as the brilliance of Bramble and Turner, but he must be doing something right.

Despite his run in the side, though, Ferdinand knows his place in the Sunderland pecking order.