FITNESS PUSH IS PRIORITY AS DUNC RETURNS

SUNDERLAND striker Duncan Watmore admits it’s a relief to be back playing after ten months out of the game with a knee injury.

The 23-year-old made his first start of the season last weekend in the 1-1 draw against QPR, playing 79 minutes, having previously come off the bench against Preston last month.

Watmore had been out of action with a cruciate ligament injury but is now approaching full match fitness and is pleased with how his progress is going.

“The more minutes I play, the sharper I feel,” he said.

“I’ve just got to keep going and working hard. That match fitness will hopefully come.

“I was ready to play as long as needed and I felt fine. It was the first start in that intensity for ten months and I was happy with how I felt.”

Watmore’s last start for Sunderland came in the Premier League.

They have now slipped down to the lower reaches of the Championship.

Despite that, Watmore has urged the team to stick together under manager Simon Grayson as they look to fight their way out of trouble and avoid a relegation battle.

“When we’re playing out there, we have to focus on our task and our job on the pitch. We’ve got to get the basics right,” Watmore added.

“It’s frustrating, in a way. We had chances (against QPR), got ourselves back in the game and I’d have loved to kick on and win the game, but we couldn’t do that.

“We have to keep being positive and keep trying to do the right things.

“It’ll take hard work to grind out results. We know the fans want better than draws and we understand that.

“But sometimes they are the foundations to go on and win games.”