Steven Fletcher: “The top 10 has to be an attainable target for a club like this.
“You look at our squad and we have good players.
“If the manager can bring in a few more in January we have a great chance.
“You can feel the potential everywhere, especially when you consider we took 5,000 supporters to Bolton in the Cup.
“We have the support we need and we have the players, we just need to put results together and I think we will.
“We want to stay in the league first and foremost, but then there’s the Cup replay next Tuesday and you never know what’s going to happen in those competitions.
“We want to stay in there for as long as we can and then if we can push up the league as well we’ll be happy.
"I have my mam Mary close to hand in Durham so I've come home.
“That’s a huge help. It’s good to be home.
“I’ve not stayed with my mum since I was about 16, when I moved away to become a pro, so it’s good to be back here – and she’s close to home.
“She cleans my house! She brings me food, she looks after me. It’s all right.
“I’ve lived everywhere, all around the country, but this feels like home.
“It’s also closer to Scotland for me, which is nice, because I’ve always been down south, so it’s nice to be back. Having your family close helps you settle.
“When you move away and you’re at a club on your own, you come back from training and you’re sitting there wondering what you’re going to do, but now I come back and my mum’s there, running about with the hoover!
“I know the area well, because every day I was off when I was at my other clubs I’d come up here, although I’m too lazy to do much. I just go home and sit on the sofa!
“The point is I feel settled now and I’ve not felt like that for a long while.
“I’ve been to places that aren’t actually my home. It’s brilliant.
“I’m happy to be here and when there was the first sign of interest in me from Sunderland I knew it was what I wanted to do.
“When you go out shopping and stuff, kids want to come up to you to talk about football, but on the other hand you can just get away from it all, which is good.
“I’ve always known the centre-forward’s position is a special one for supporters here, but I’m the kind of person who just tries to get on with things.
“I always aim for double figures and given that I’m only two away and we’re halfway through the season I have to be content with that.
“I was a bit lucky early on – everything I touched seemed to go in and as a striker you just never want that kind of run to end.”
Sunderland Squad 2.Bardsley4.N'Diaye3.Rose5.Brown6.Cattermole7.Larsson8.Gardner9.Campbell10.Wickham11.McFadden12.Kilgallon13.Pickford14.Colback15.Vaughan16.O'Shea19.Bramble20.Westwood21.Johnson A22.Mignolet23.McClean24.Cuellar25.Saha26.Fletcher28.Sessegnon Sunderland Fixtures Saturday January 12 15:00 Premier League West Ham United (H)Tuesday January 15 19:45 FA Cup replay Bolton Wanderers (H) Saturday January 19 15:00 Premier League Wigan Athletic (A) Tuesday January 29 19:45 Premier League Swansea City (H)
Source: Sunderland-Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
