‘I DON’T FEEL CATS IS A CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB’
VAUGHAN WILL PUT IN HARD YARDS TO GET SUNDERLAND BACK WHERE THEY BELONG
A club of Sunderland’s size is out of place in the Championship - that’s the view of new boy James Vaughan.
But the striker knows that every player in the squad is going to have to put in the hard yards to make sure the Black Cats return to the Premier League promised land at the first time of asking.
“There’s a lot to work with within the squad and the hard work starts now,” said Vaughan.
“There’s some quality players and I don’t feel like Sunderland is a Championship club, but we have to put the work and the graft in to get back into the Premier League.
“The manager has shown faith in me before and now he has again I’m just grateful for the opportunity, so I’m going to get my head down and work as hard as I can to help the team.
Vaughan had an eventful debut at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, missing a first-half penalty but impressing with his work rate on his first outing in red and white.
His performance seemed to go down well with the fans.
The striker said: “It was fantastic [to get that reaction from the fans] and since I’ve signed they’ve been unbelievable with me.
“I knew it was a big club anyway but since I’ve arrived the reception has been fantastic like I said and it’s given me that extra 10% to do it better for them and give them what they deserve.”
Meanwhile, Fabio Borini has discussed his Black Cats summer exit insisting AC Milan was a move he could not turn down.
Borini departed the Stadium of Light in an initial loan deal which will be made permanent next summer, with Sunderland picking up around £5.3million for Italian international. He said that once the Rossoneri came calling, his mind was made up to depart. “I spent many years in England, but I’m Italian,” Borino told Milan TV. “Milan for an Italian are like Real Madrid or Barcelona for a Spaniard, or Liverpool or Manchester United for an Englishman. “I played for Liverpool in England, and when Milan called me I couldn’t say no. It’s a huge stimulus to return to Italy with a club like Milan. I’m proud to be part of this new project. “My role? At Chelsea I started in the youth team and I had players like [Didier] Drogba ahead of me, and I managed to insert myself among the others. “I arrived at Roma defiantly, in silence, and I had of [Erik] Lamela, [Francesco] Totti, Bojan, [Dani] Osvaldo ahead of me. By the second half of the season I was a starter. “It was similar at Liverpool, only at Sunderland I knew I’d play. Few will work harder than me - that’s my strength.”