WHEN Gary Breen celebrates his birthday in eight days time, he turns 31 and will reaffirm his position as one of the oldest and most experienced players in the Sunderland dressing room.

Only Mart Poom, Marcus Stewart and Thomas Myhre at the club have more years in the game behind them after the restructuring job manager Mick McCarthy has carried out since taking over in March last year.

Out of gone old heads in the mould of Jason McAteer, Phil Babb and Joachim Bjorklund, while the arrivals list has included a number of twenty-somethings eager to make a name for themselves in the English game.

Liam Lawrence, Dean Whitehead, Stephen Elliott, Mark Lynch, Steve Caldwell, Neill and Danny Collins are among those to have come through the Stadium of Light doors since the end of last season alone.

And Breen, who has taken massive strides in the game since starting out at the now defunct Maidstone United, believes that he finds it incredible how so many new players have been able to gel so quickly.

"Gone are the days that players go out on the lash together, but it's what you are doing on the pitch that counts and they all pull together," said Breen, who has opened talks with chairman Bob Murray about extending his stay at the club.

"All the lads work extremely hard. There's no real animosity when players are not in the starting line-up, there's just a genuine focus on us all wanting to win every game.

"The manager brought in young players and there is a real determination to get promoted. That is a feeling running through everyone.

"It seems weird that I'm a more experienced head in the dressing room now. It has suddenly sneaked up on me that I'm the more experienced. It's unbelievable really.

"But all the older man can say is that the younger lads are doing fantastic. It's a genuine fact that all the lads in this squad are a close group and we all get on together.

"Last season there was a big hangover from being relegated from the Premiership. The behind the scenes stuff had a massive bearing on us and I believe that was a major reason why we didn't go up last season.

"But right from the off this season things have gone well really. The manager made a conscious effort to take us to America on a pre-season tour.

"We were living out of each other's pockets and it helped everyone get to know each other. This squad is full of players wanting to do well rather than players thinking they are too good for this level. It's looking good."

Breen has played a big part in a backline that has kept five clean sheets in Sunderland's last seven Championship matches - form that has increased chances of automatic promotion dramatically.

But the club skipper is not just worried about what is happening on the pitch now, he is focused on ensuring progress continues and a return to the top-flight becomes reality come May.

The Sunderland centre-back was part of the side that lost out in the play-offs to Crystal palace last season - a side that had looked like battling against relegation before the installation of Iain Dowie in the managerial chair.

And Breen, ahead of today's match with former employers West Ham, claims the Black Cats have to beware of the threat of a number of other sides between now and the end of the campaign or slip up at the final hurdle once again.

That is why he has set his sights on automatic promotion, rather than being happy with a place in the top six. "If you are not in the Premier League then you are making the numbers up, that's my view. This is the massive feeling at the club. It has to be back in the Premier League.

"There's no divine right to be there but there's a real combined effort to get back up there.

"West Brom ran away with it last year and I would love to be in that position. I think it's easier to lead from the front, it's tough but it would be nice to get up there and show what we can do.

"There's no team that worries us in this league.

"It's just the league itself which is of concern.

"Playing two games a week is a problem when you have to deal with injuries."

Read more about Sunderland here.