Defender Arbenit Xhemajli is glad to be back on the pitch, after an extremely lengthy time on the injury table...
HAPPY TO PLAY
"After being injured for so long I'm happy just to be playing a game, any game! It doesn't matter whether it's a friendly, a game like this one.
EXCITING
"It's exciting for me. Even just training... after so long out it's exciting for me."
NOT EASY
"It wasn't easy for me when I first came here. I came pretty much without a pre-season, joined about a week before the season started. After about three or four weeks I got injured."
ALONE
"I was on my own here, and I had been settling really well and quickly into the squad before my injury. Then you're always a little bit away from the team, because you're working on your recovery, they are away at games etc. You're always in the gym, working away on your own... it was a long, hard recovery."
FAMILY
"I've got a really strong mentality and really strong support from my family. I talk to my brother a lot, my parents, and they keep me motivated. I'm doing all this for them. I sacrificed a lot to come here, to show what I can do and to get to the level that I want to be at. All of this for them. Of course it was tough not seeing them for a long time, and now again I haven't seen them for four or five months, and it's tough. But thankfully we have facetime!"
SHARPER
"The confidence comes back game by game. Of course, I still need a lot of work to get sharper. I just spoke to the fitness coach and I'm going to do a test on Saturday if I feel good to see if we can then set a programme where I can get even sharper, quicker and more explosive. I need that, because I haven't played for a year. I need to take it step by step, though."
SUNDERLAND
"I came here because we are the biggest club in this division that doesn't deserve to be in the division, and the support from the fans in every game is amazing. We really want to give our best for them out on the pitch. Sunderland hasn't seen anything like my best yet. I still haven't had a league game, so I haven't been able to show how I play."
PATIENCE
"I'm working very hard to get to the point where I can play league games and show what I can bring to the team. Even now I'm back playing, with that kind of injury I had, it's going to take time for me to get back to my best. I have so much passion, but patience as well. I know how hard it's going to be because we have got a lot of good players. But we have injuries as well, so I'm working hard in training to show what I can do for the team."
