Source: Northern_Echo
Ferdinand sees long term future at Stadium of Light
HAVING emerged from a tough two weeks following his demotion to the substitutes bench for last weekends win over Wolves, Anton Ferdinand insists his strength of character will enable him to bounce back from the disappointment of scoring a stoppage-time own goal against Manchester United.
Ferdinand deprived Sunderland of their first win at Old Trafford for more than 40 years when he diverted Patrice Evras 92nd-minute strike past a helpless Craig Gordon, and his disappointment was obvious as he sank to his knees and pounded the turf with his fists.
The defender was similarly upset when he was relegated to the bench in favour of summer signing John Mensah in the wake of last months 3-1 defeat at Burnley.
That move led to speculation about Ferdinands long-term future at the Stadium of Light, but having shelved his disappointment to produce a superb defensive performance at the home of the champions, the 24- year-old is determined to display similar resilience in the wake of Saturdays mishap.
Its been a tough two weeks, said Ferdinand. I was left out of the team last week and could have sulked, but I didnt. I showed what type of a person I am and got on with it.
People were looking at me to see how I would react, and I think I reacted in the right way. I showed everyone that I do want a future at this club. I came off the bench last week and did okay, and thankfully the gaffer put me back in for a big game. I thank him for that, and Id like to think I took my chance with both hands which is what I wanted to do.
What happened in the final minutes will just make me even more determined to show what type of character I am.
The concession of an injurytime own goal is a difficult thing to take at the best of times, but the impact is even greater when it prevents the shock of the season.
Ferdinand accepts he will be reminded of the goal for many months to come, but having overcome the despair of missing a crucial penalty in a shootout at an FA Cup final, the Londoner insists he will not allow Saturdays error to linger in his memory for long.
It felt like the ground was going to open up at the end, but thats football and its how you react to these things thats important, he said. Ive showed that I have character in the past, and Im sure Ill show that again.
Ive had worse moments in football. I missed a penalty in the FA Cup final with West Ham and that was obviously pretty hard to take. But these things happen.
They either make you or break you. I think missing that penalty made me mentally stronger, and Im sure this will do exactly the same thing. Im confident Ill come back from it.
Whether he comes back from it in Sunderlands next game, a home match with Liverpool on October 17, remains to be seen.
With Mensah expected to have returned from a calf injury by then, Black Cats boss Steve Bruce has a difficult decision to make as he attempts to neuter the free-scoring Fernando Torres at the Stadium of Light.
Ferdinand has done all he can to keep his place, and if Saturdays display is anything to go by, he appears capable of forming a solid relationship with fellow centre-half Michael Turner and a new fullback pairing of Phil Bardsley and Kieran Richardson.
Its what the manager sees fit that matters, he said. But I thought the whole of the backline played really well. We won a lot of tackles and a lot of headers throughout.
It wasnt just me and Michael, I think Kieran is settling into the left-back position well and Bardo was excellent too. We stopped them getting the ball into their front mens feet pretty well. When they tried to get the ball into feet we were tight, and they couldnt run off us. It was a great backline performance - not only a backline performance, a whole team performance as well.
But we have to perform like this against the other teams. If we can perform like this against Man United, we should be able to do it against whoever we play.
