Sunderland appeal red card

Sunderland have launched an appeal against midfielder Stephane Sessegnon's sending off in his side's 6-1 loss at Aston Villa, the English Football Association announced on Tuesday.



The 28-year-old Benin international was shown a straight red card after catching Villa midfielder Yacoub Sylla with a late challenge during the second half of the Premier League game at Villa Park on Monday.



He will have his case heard by an independent regulatory commission on Wednesday.



Speaking after the game, Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio criticised referee Lee Probert's decision to send Sessegnon off.

"There was nothing in it," Di Canio said. "The leg was not straight. He didn't want to cause any damage to his opponent. The referee fell in a trap. It wasn't a nasty action."

Sunderland's defeat left them level on 37 points with Villa and Newcastle United, five points above the relegation zone with three matches to play this season.

Di Canio: We were warriors

Paolo Di Canio felt his Sunderland players performed like 'warriors' as they claimed a 3-0 derby victory at Newcastle United.

Spectacular strikes from Stephane Sessegnon, Adam Johnson and David Vaughan saw the Black Cats to three much-needed points at St James' Park.

Victory on Tyneside was Di Canio's first as Sunderland boss, in his first derby, and he admits he could not have asked for any more from his squad.

He told Sky Sports: "They were warriors. You can't be more proud than this. They did everything, they gave everything, they left all of their energy on the field.

"It was a fair result at 3-0, so I am very happy for them because they really suffered during the game. It was hard because we knew that we had a team in front of us with fantastic ability and quality.

"They worked through the strategy in a perfect way and it was a good result. It was an important result and they deserved it, so I am happy.



"It means that what I thought when I signed, there is quality in this team. There is absolute quality and it is important that we use it in the right way and play together as a team."

McClean received death threats

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill has confirmed winger James McClean has been the target of death threats.



The 23-year-old came in for criticism after opting not to sport a Remembrance Day poppy on his shirt during the Black Cats' 2-1 defeat at Everton last weekend.



"James will deal with it (the booing). I think it is to do with the issue last week, it's a free choice in this world," he said."James has lived with a lot of things - he's getting death threats too now so that doesn't help."



McClean was introduced by O'Neill as a second-half substitute in the 3-1 win at Fulham and received a mixed response from the travelling Sunderland supporters.



It is understood that police are investigating the threats which were directed towards McClean on Twitter, although the player no longer uses the social networking site.

Saha desperate for first goal

Louis Saha is determined his first Sunderland goal will be an important one.



The 34-year-old Frenchman heads for former club Everton at the weekend still awaiting his opening strike for the Black Cats.



He does so with Martin O'Neill's men desperately short of confidence and having managed only one Barclays Premier League victory in 17 attempts dating back to March.



However, while desperate to break his duck, Saha will only be happy if his maiden goal in a red and white shirt results in a tangible reward for his team.



He told the Sunderland Echo: "You always work hard for that first goal and the pressure is off when you get it.



"But you want to make sure you get when it's the right moment. You don't want to score when you're 3-0 down and you don't need it."



Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Aston Villa left the Black Cats still searching for just their second league win of the campaign and sliding inexorably down the table.



O'Neill remains confident his side will start to fire soon, but the fact remains they mustered only one shot on target at the weekend, and that from midfielder Lee Cattermole 84 minutes into the game.



Saha said: "You always want to do more and I think the team can do it and as a player, I think I can do more as well.



"When you're drawing many games, you always expect more because we are here to win games. But we are training to improve.



"We have done okay, but the fans can ask more because they see things.



"But football is a difficult job and I really think we are close to winning games."

O'Neill warns McClean over conduct

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has warned James McClean over his behaviour following the Twitter rant that landed the winger in hot water with his international manager.



McClean, 23, received a dressing down from Giovanni Trapattoni after expressing his frustration via the social networking site at not making it off the bench in Republic of Ireland's 2-1 win over Kazakhstan on Friday.



The former Derry City man was quick to delete the tweet before having to apologise to Trapattoni and the rest of the Ireland squad for the incident. Now his club boss O'Neill has made it known how he feels about his player's behaviour.



"James has been acting rather strangely," he said. "It's good when the player not only wants to play but he also wants to manage the team as well. James is rather young for that at the moment. I think Mr Trapattoni has got a couple of years on him and a couple of titles too in front of James, so I think he's entitled to pick the team.



"He has even admitted himself he has been rather foolish. He has taken himself off Twitter, apparently, then he might have a situation with Facebook as well and about 14 other accounts that he has. He has a bit of a problem and we will have to rectify it. We can have a bit of a joke about it and laugh about it and think: 'Well, that's okay'."



The Sunderland manager made clear McClean's behaviour did not fall in line with the club's policy while also expressing his dislike of the player's language - McClean labelled Trapattoni's decision a "f****n* joke".



"He does know the rules - they were read to him, they were given to him, he was there that day - and, not only that, some of his language was pretty poor and we will have to deal with that. Genuinely, we can have a laugh about it first of all, but now it's getting a bit ridiculous."

O'Neill keen for new Cattermole deal

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill is keen to open discussions with Lee Cattermole over a new contract, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.



Cattermole, 24, joined the Black Cats from Wigan Athletic in 2009 for a fee of £6 million and is entering the final 12 months of his current contract - meaning he could potentially walk away for free next summer.



The midfielder has had his critics while on Wearside, but remained club captain when O'Neill was appointed despite his manager admitting the former Middlesbrough player needs to work on his discipline.



"He's 24 and he's the captain of the side. Sometimes he needs to keep his discipline better because over the course of the year I expect he'll pick up a couple of silly bookings," O'Neill told the Sunderland Echo.



Yet what he lacks in discipline, his boss feels he more than makes up for in other areas of his game, and O'Neill is determined to tie him down to a new contract.



"Cattermole has been excellent since I came to the football club and he may well have been before, I don't know about that," he added. "I don't want to build him up too much though, particularly as he has a contract to sign here!"

Johnson out of England qualifiers

Sunderland winger Adam Johnson has withdrawn from the England squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers due to injury.



Johnson has a thigh problem, meaning he will not feature in the Three Lions' qualifiers over the next week.



The 25-year-old had a scan after picking up a minor thigh injury, and has returned to his club for treatment.



The recent signing from Manchester City will not feature in Friday's Group H match in Moldova or Tuesday's home game against Ukraine.



Johnson is the second player to withdraw from Roy Hodgson's party after striker Andy Carroll was ruled out over the weekend.



Ashley Cole is also out of the trip to Moldova, but he may still be fit for the Ukraine clash.