Fans want Cats to make Grabb for striking hero

WEAR FAITHFUL KEEN FOR FORWARD TO STAY - BUT HAPPY TO SEE OTHERS GO

SUNDERLAND fans would allow all five of the club’s out-of-contract players to leave at the end of the season - with on-loan Lewis Grabban the man they are desperate to keep.

Five Black Cats players are about to enter the final six months of their contracts, while Grabban is one of four players due to return to their parent clubs next summer after spending the season on loan at the Stadium of Light.

John O’Shea, Mika, Billy Jones, Darron Gibson, and Marc Wilson are the men whose deals expire and Grabban, Jonny Williams, Ty Browning and Brendan Galloway, are the loanees.

Last week I had my say on which players Chris Coleman should keep, and fans also had their chance to pass judgement in a poll.

As of today, only three of the nine had a majority of votes in favour of retaining them - and all of those were loanees.

The results show almost nine out of ten (85.4 per cent} fans who voted want 11-goal top scorer Grabban, who was brought in on loan from Bournemouth, to stay.

Despite injuries restricting him to only six starts so far, six out of ten (61.3 per cent) fans would be happy to see Crystal Palace midfielder Williams remain on Wearside.

Everton centre-back Browning has also made a good impression with nearly six out of ten (58.6 per cent) keen to see him extend his time at Sunderland.

Yet only two out of ten (20.2 per cent) think fellow Everton defender Galloway has done enough to justify a longer stay.

Of the five Sunderland players who are out of contract, just 36 per cent believe Wilson - who joined last summer from Bournemouth - merits a new deal, while only 26.7 per cent would keep Jones.

Interestingly, more fans (22 per cent) voted to keep Portuguese goalkeeper Mika - who has never played a senior game in his 16 months at the club - than wanted to hand either defender O’Shea (17.8 per cent) or schemer Gibson (12.9 per cent) a new deal.