McClean determined to take full advantage of his opportunities

CARL O'MALLEYtalks to the former Derry City star who has made a big impression since his move six months ago to Premier League club Sunderland

IT’S ALL gone rather well for James McClean, really. Six months ago he was a €400,000 signing that had the Sunderland faithful scrambling for answers on Twitter, today he’s preparing for an FA Cup derby with Middlesbrough knowing many of those fans will arrive at the Stadium of Light tomorrow with his name adorning their jerseys.

Some Derry City fans and the wider League of Ireland family may claim the manner in which McClean has progressed since August is no surprise, but even the 22-year-old admits “it’s gone a lot better than expected”.

The Creggan man is sure of himself, though he speaks without a hint of arrogance.

“I’ve had four or five starts now, in the last five games. I didn’t expect that at this stage, but at the same time I have confidence in my ability. The aim was always to try and get into the team as soon as possible.”

When he arrived on Wearside he was described by manager Steve Bruce, not unreasonably, as a player who might need some time to adjust.

Alas, Bruce might still be in a job had he thought otherwise. It would be glib to suggest Sunderland’s revival can be attributed to McClean, but given his impact since debuting under new manager Martin O’Neill in December, trusting him off the bench in the November defeat to Wigan that ultimately cost the manager his job couldn’t have hurt the former manager.

O’Neill wasted no time in doing just that. Trailing Blackburn Rovers 1-0 in his first game, the manager called on McClean.

He didn’t score but was celebrated on Wearside and beyond for his role in turning the deficit into a 2-1 win.

He didn’t have time. He had just 14 minutes. But O’Neill, confident in what he’d seen in his short time behind the scenes, insisted he just do his thing.

“The manager just told me to ‘go on, do your own stuff, play your own game, you’ll be grand’,” McClean recalls. “I’d waited all my life, so I was relishing it.”

His gig isn’t complicated. He runs at defences and gets crosses in the box, so he fits O’Neill’s modus operandi perfectly.

Tall, quick and powerful, he relentlessly pursues the space behind full-backs and looks to hit a target. He can convert chances, too, as a league goal against Wigan and an FA Cup header at Peterborough have since proved.

A boyhood Manchester United fan, McClean could have been forgiven for seeing the departure of former Old Trafford hero Bruce, the man who signed him, as a bad omen, but he dismisses the notion as quickly as he does the idea he has benefited from the subsequent appointment of a fellow Derryman.

“The mindset was to go over, no matter who was in charge, work hard and get in the team. So, that didn’t change,” he says of Bruce’s departure.

“I want to be in the team based on my ability, not because of what part of the world I’m from. He (O’Neill) has given me a chance and I’m grateful for that.”

Of course, since declaring for the Republic of Ireland, the part of the world he is from has come starkly into focus.

“That’s all put to bed,” he says bluntly of his decision to turn his back on the North, for whom he played under-21 football.

His decision has been met with anything from dismay to derision north of the border and has turned him into the latest cause celebre for media in the south, intent on somehow shaping Giovanni Trapattoni’s thinking.

Given the career trajectories of former “causes” Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland, it’s a dubious honour, but he’s undeterred by their fate and by the Italian’s apparent reluctance to make way for new faces ahead of Euro 2012.

“It’s a long shot, like, I know that myself. But at the same time, it just gives me extra motivation to do well at the club. You never know. Five or six months ago if you’d said I’d be playing regularly in the Premier League, I’d have said ‘Nah, unlikely’. So, it’s football, you never know.

On the face of it, he’d fit right in. Like O’Neill, Trapattoni likes do to his attacking on the wings and, unlike Damien Duff, Aiden McGeady or Stephen Hunt – all worthy of their place on the plane, of course – McClean offers power, physicality and an extra aerial option.

Plus, he speaks the Italian’s methods. “It doesn’t matter who they are, it doesn’t matter if they are big names, my game is to get out, play with no fear, get at the full-back or whoever I’m playing against, no matter who it is.”

It still looks an outside bet. Even if he puts in a big month, starting tomorrow, and then against Norwich, Stoke and Arsenal in the league, he may still be the one relying on injuries to others if he is to get a call in time to face the Czech Republic in Dublin on February 29th.

“It was a great achievement by the squad and, whether I’m involved or not, it’ll be great to watch.

“If the manager fancies me, then he fancies me. If he wants to call me up it would be a dream come true, but my main focus is on Sunderland. The only way I’m going to get international recognition is through that, so we’ll see.”

Right now, he owes Sunderland, his new home where he’s had “tremendous” support from inside and outside the club. He’s had his own place since August, “in a handy part of town, so it’s all good”, and gets regular trips back to Foyleside. Those things have been a real help, as has the support he’s received on the streets.

“There’s serious passion here. It’s obviously great because it rubs off on the players. You know how much it means to them, so it gives you that bit of extra motivation.”

They’re likely to crank it up another notch for tomorrow’s fourth round tie. Few games get the locals in the mood like this one and meetings are rare these days since Boro’s relegation from the top tier in 2009. “Derby days are always special,” McClean says. His new fans will argue some are more special than others but he’s odds on to rise to the occasion.