Sanderson needs to focus on football – LJ
Lee Johnson has urged Dion Sanderson to stay focused on his football as speculation over his future continues.
Reports this week claimed that Sunderland had opened talksovera£2millionsummer deal for the 21-year-old.
Johnsonsaidthatwas'news to him'.
The Head Coach is in regular contact with Seyi Olofinjana, who is the Loans Pathway Manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Johnson has previously said that the Black Cats would 'of course' be interested in signing the youngster, if available.
Forhispart,Sandersonhas saidthathestillhopestobreak into the first-team picture at his hometown club.
Thecentre-halfhasbecome a vital player for Johnson during the current unbeaten run and the Head Coach is keen to ensure that he maintains his recent performance level.
"Obviously, we're always in contact with Wolves about Dion," Johnson said.
"He'saWolvesplayersoit'sa difficult one to talk about.
"Asaplayer,youwanttoplay atthehighestlevelforthelongest amount of time. Even the questioning line to Dion is difficultformebecauseI'mtrying to keep him concentrated and focusedontheprocess,andnot putting too many things in his head.
"Obviously, I understand why people have got to do their jobs and ask him the question, butatthesametimeit'salesson for me in terms of putting him in front of the media.
"Everyone knows how pleased we are with Dion and just how well he has done.
"We will just have to see. Right now, we've very happy he's here, very happy to have him and we're trying to keep the focus solely on football."