Source: SKY_Sports
Black Cats to wait on Cisse
Ricky Sbragia does not plan to speak with Djibril Cisse about his future until Sunderland have secured their Premier League survival.
Cisse is currently on a season-long loan at the Stadium of Light from Ligue 1 side Marseille and it is unclear where he will be plying his trade next term.
The Frenchman admitted earlier this week that he was irritated by the situation, with Sunderland reluctant to commit to a permanent deal.
The Black Cats agreed the terms of a permanent switch last summer but the weakness of the pound against the euro means the deal could now cost them up to £3million more than they had anticipated at the time.
Sunderland are still involved in a scrap for top-flight survival and Sbragia insists the club must consider their own position first.
"(Chairman) Niall (Quinn) has spoken to Djibril and I have spoken to him about it, and the day everything is safe and rosy will be the day we will sit down and talk to him," the manager explained.
"That has always been the case with all the players at the club, and we just hope we can focus on doing well for Sunderland and putting all our energy into that, and leaving that for another day.
"We have spoken to him umpteen times about it. My priority is to make
sure Sunderland go up the table and stay in the Premier League.
"That's important and I would hope all the players would be focused that way."
There have been suggestions that Cisse's strike partnership with Kenwyne Jones could work better and Sbragia believes the understanding between the pair will continue to improve.
Referring to Saturday's 1-1 draw with Tottenham, he said: "We work at it. I just thought we could have held the ball up better, that was the biggest point. We were a bit loose on that.
"I spoke to Djibril on Tuesday morning about it and I showed him some cuttings and showed him some facts, and he accepted it.
"He is an important player for us and so is Kenwyne. They are individuals and we have always said that, at the end of the day, they are there to score goals.
"That's what they are there to do and they have done that to date."
