Tuesday, 13th May, 2014
Sunderland striker Connor Wickham credits his performances while on loan at Leeds United as being the reason Black Cats boss Gus Poyet opted to bring him back to the Stadium of Light.
Wickham was sent to Leeds on loan in February this year, but Poyet recalled him in late March to aid in Sunderland's battle against the drop.
The former Ipswich youngster had a sensational impact, scoring twice to earn a draw with Manchester City, scoring in a 2-1 win at Chelsea and then hitting a brace against Cardiff City, leading the Black Cats to survival in the Premier League.
And as a result, Wickham picked up the Premier League Player of the Month award for April.
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Wickham, who was on loan when Sunderland played Manchester City in the League Cup final, said to the BBC: "It would have been great to play at Wembley, but I wasn't going to be involved in the team.
"I'd rather go to play football in front of one man and his dog, than sit in the stands with 90,000 people.
"In the end my performances showed the manager I was maybe what he needed, he called me back, thankfully I went straight into the team and from there we gelled together and sorted our problem out."
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