REJUVENATED Thomas Myhre's turnaround in fortunes have come full circle at Sunderland after being told he is wanted until the end of the season and possibly beyond.

A move away from Wearside has always been on the cards for the second-choice goalkeeper ever since the club relinquished Premiership status in May last year.

Although a switch to Crystal Palace fell through at the last moment in January, a permanent transfer has never materialised and Myhre has been forced to bide his time while the remaining months of his contract run down.

Failure to move on - with him also rejecting advances from a move back to his Scandinavian homeland - has proved Sunderland's gain and he has been rewarded with some encouraging words from manager Mick McCarthy.

No 1 Mart Poom, who suffered a setback to his knee injury this week and may not be fit for next Saturday's trip to Cardiff, has not played since the 1-1 draw at Watford on October 19 and his deputy has played every game since.

From the seven matches Myhre has started, since returning to the side at Rotherham four days after the trip to Vicarage Road, he has kept five clean sheets.

And that impressive record has helped Sunderland climb to third in the Championship table and they have won their last three games ahead of West Ham's visit to the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

Sunderland chairman Bob Murray spoke on Thursday night of the need for the club to have 'two quality keepers' and McCarthy paid Myhre the ultimate compliment last night.

"There's never been a problem between me and Thomas, it's purely been a financial reason that he has been available to leave," said McCarthy.

"His contract is up at the end of the season and I would like to think he'd be here until then. We will then look at the situation again.

"What's nice is that we have had Thomas come in and keep things tight and it's good to know that no matter who is in goal they will put a shift in.

"Thomas has been fantastic. He was made available but for whatever reason it has not happened for him. His attitude and performances have been fantastic."

With Julio Arca suspended for today's game, having picked up his fifth booking of the season against Ipswich, McCarthy has been weighing up whether to hand new signing Andy Welsh his debut.

Welsh, who signed from Stockport recently, is one option, while a stronger possibility is that Carl Robinson and Jeff Whitley will come straight in after injury, with Darren Carter pushing out wide.

But if Welsh is called upon McCarthy believes the 20-year-old is ready to make the step up to Championship football.

"We watched Andy for a long time and when he trained with us there was a buzz about him," said McCarthy.

"When he was training the players all said 'who is that?'. He is good and he is only a slight build. He will be in the gym to work on that but there's something about him. He has a good left foot and he's quick."

McCarthy, reciting a line from the Jose Mourinho school of management, claims he wants '22 players, with two players for each position' and he used that as the reason why he added Welsh to his squad.

But the Sunderland boss believes the new Black Cat knows he has to play second fiddle to Arca. "I needed a left winger to go in that role to compete with Julio," he said.

"Welsh knows Julio's my first choice but he said 'if I can't learn from him I can't learn from anyone'. But he wants to play."

Sunderland are hoping to preserve their unbeaten home record against the Hammers today and are likely to name Michael Bridges among the substitutes again.

Bridges ended a four-and-a-half-year wait for a goal at Stoke last weekend but has struggled with an Achilles problem this week, so Marcus Stewart and Stephen Elliott should retain their places up front.

And McCarthy, well aware that West Ham occupy a play-off place just five points behind Sunderland in the table, is convinced his forward line can find the net whoever he selects.

"You can see Michael's ability in training but he needs goals and he has come in at the last 15 minutes and looked a threat. That's his first and we will see how many he gets now," said McCarthy.

"I'm a fan of his and he quite clearly can play. That goal will help him now. We watched him in training and told him to concentrate on not snatching at the ball.

"The net doesn't move and he knows that.

"Bridges has had the crowd behind him every time he has gone on. Him going on has changed the game not only because of him but because of the crowd being lifted. But the other strikers have all done well."

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