Neil can rise to the challenge of being a top-flight player

LIMITED TIME ON BIG STAGE SO FAR FOR DAN - BUT HIS ‘DESIRE’ WILL DRIVE HIM ON

- By MATTY HEWITT Football Writer

SUNDERLAND have made a brilliant start to life back in the Premier League following promotion last season and showed little room for sentiment with their summer transfer spending spree.

That's the ruthless nature of life in the top flight - with Trai Hume the only player from last season’s promotion-winning squad to get regular minutes under Regis Le Bris this season.

It's not to say those who have struggled for game-time are bad players - far from it. It’s more so the reality of the level required to play in the greatest league in the world.

Boyhood Sunderland fan Dan Neil has played just a few minutes in the Premier League, coming off the subs bench against Aston Villa in a battling display at the Stadium of Light. Going from captain to an unused substitute in the final year of his contract will be hard to stomach, but if anything is known about the midfielder, it's that he'll rise to the challenge. “For Dan, it’s an opportunity to grow,’ Black Cats boss Le Bris (pictured below) said earlier on this summer.

“He's still very young and has the potential to be a Premier League player, but you have to feel the gap between the levels. So it’s an opportunity for him to grow.”

The 23-year-old has already overcome a number of setbacks in his short career to date, the biggest of which was a knee injury that kept him out for 18 months as a 14-year-old.

For some, that would have been a career-ending blow. But Neil fought against adversity to break into Sunderland's first-team setup as a 16-yearold and hasn't looked back.

“It’s all about mental toughness,’ Stephen Rutherford told The Chronicle when he was asked about what set Neil apart from those he coached at Hebburn Town as a youngster.