NEW Sunderland skipper Gary Breen is adamant that the captain's armband will not change the way he plays the game.

Mick McCarthy revealed that Breen had been appointed as Jason McAteer's successor on Thursday in preference to last season's stand-in skipper George McCartney.

It is not the first time the experienced 30-year-old has led a side managed by McCarthy, as the Black Cats boss also made Breen captain when he was in charge of the Republic of Ireland.

The centre-half is delighted to be at the forefront of Sunderland's latest assault on the Premiership, but is not about to make wholesale changes to the way in which he interacts with the rest of his team.

"I'm looking forward to it, but I won't be doing anything different to the way I played last year," said Breen, who is expected to return to the starting line-up for Sunderland's final pre-season game at Doncaster tomorrow.

"It's an honour to be made captain of a club like Sunderland. I'm delighted and I'm looking forward to the team doing well in the new season now.

"Captaincy is something I've done for most of the teams I've played for. I don't know why I get chosen.

"But the armband won't make a lot of difference - I'll just try to encourage the players in the way that I have done before.

"Maybe I'll have to remind them when they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, but we're a good team now and we feel that we work hard on the training ground so everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing. The transition should be quite easy."

Breen is one of the few remaining elder statesmen at the Stadium of Light after the departures of McAteer, Phil Babb and Joachim Bjorklund.

McCarthy has put his faith in youth so far this summer, with the likes of Stephen Elliott, Mark Lynch, Dean Whitehead and Liam Lawrence arriving to plug the gaps.

Sunderland's youngsters have helped to create a vibrant atmosphere at the club's training ground but, when the going gets tougher later this season, Breen's experience could play a crucial role.

"There might be a bit more responsibility on the older lads with so many younger lads coming in, especially when you're playing a run of tough away games," he admitted. "But, unfortunately in this league, you've got to learn quite quickly. From what I've seen of the young players so far, they've got a lot of character and they're willing learners as well.

"It's going to be a long season and we're not looking to peak in the first three or four games. We've got to last over the course of the season."

That season gets under way at Coventry next weekend and tomorrow's game at Doncaster offers McCarthy his final chance to experiment before the real business starts.

The Black Cats boss had hoped to have something resembling his first-choice XI on view in South Yorkshire, but he has been hit a double striker blow just seven days before the start of the Coca Cola Championship campaign.

Scotland international Kevin Kyle is still nursing a hip injury while Nathan Blake, who has been training with the Black Cats this week, has left Wearside.

McCarthy has not ruled Kyle out of next weekend's Highfield Road clash, but the frontman would have to make significant progress this week to make the starting XI.

Blake had been pencilled in for a starting role at Belle Vue but the former Wolves striker is understood to have been offered a firm deal by another Coca Cola Championship club.

Portsmouth forward Mark Burchill continues to train with Sunderland but, as his registration is held by Pompey, he is unable to play any part tomorrow.

* Leicester manager Micky Adams has completed his second signing within 24 hours after giving former Sunderland defender Chris Makin a one-year deal.

The 31-year-old was included on the Foxes' pre-season tours of Estonia, Finland and Scotland after being released by Ipswich at the end of last season.

Makin's arrival follows the signing of Joey Gudjonsson on Wednesday and brings the number of manager Micky Adams' summertime signings to nine.

Dion Dublin, Jason Wilcox, Gareth Williams, Martin Keown, David Connolly, Danny Tiatto and Kevin Pressman are the other new signings at the Walkers Stadium.

l The Football League have given cash-strapped Bradford the green light to start the season in Coca-Cola League One after the club's staff received outstanding payments.

Former chief executive Julian Rhodes has provided the administrators with £250,000 that enables them to pay the playing and non-playing staff their wages for July.

A finalised CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement) proposal will be sent to creditors early next week setting out plans to allow the club to exit administration.

The club's joint administrator, Neil Brackenbury, said: ''This is a very positive step and allows the club to start the new football season, during which we hope the CVA will be approved. This would allow the club to exit administration, thereby securing its future.

''We are extremely grateful for both the patience and support shown by all the staff during these last few weeks.

''We appreciate that this summer has been a worrying time for the supporters, but we hope today's news provides them with renewed optimism for the season ahead.''