Wickham will continue to fight for his chance

Connor Wickham says he will continue to fight for a first-team spot having failed to make a Premier League appearance thus far this season.

Wickham, still only 19, has fallen down the pecking order at the Stadium of Light this season with the arrivals of Louis Saha and Steven Fletcher.

And, having arrived on Wearside to much fanfare for a fee north of £10m, Wickham has made just 16 appearances for the Black Cats, scoring once.

However, despite loan options appearing to be open to the England U21 international, Wickham admits that he is keen to continue trying to earn a first-team spot by impressing manager Martin O’Neill.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, Wickham said:

‘I`ve spoken to him a few times and he`s told me exactly what he wants and we`ve got the coaches in to do the extra training that has been put on for me,’ revealed Wickham.

“I`m doing it every single day and hopefully it will show the manager that I want to play.’

Wickham was amongst the goals for Stuart Pearce’s England U21’s recently though, bagging the solitary goal in a 1-0 win over Norway on September 10.

And, after the U21’s beat Serbia 1-0 in their European Championship Play-Off first leg, Wickham will be looking to feature once more as Pearce’s young charges face Serbia tonight.

We’ll bring you details of how the Three Lions and Wickham get on later tonight.