MICHAEL GRAY bade farewell to Sunderland last night and apologised to the club's supporters for the part he played in last season's relegation debacle.

The left-back has supported the Black Cats all of his life and he has been on their books for over 13 years.

But, despite his love for Sunderland, he could do little to help Mick McCarthy save the Wearside outfit from the drop at the back end of the last campaign.

Gray was a massive part of Peter Reid's Sunderland team and he retained the captain's armband when Howard Wilkinson took charge following Reid's departure in October 2002.

And when McCarthy became the latest incumbent of the Stadium of Light hot-seat last March, the defender was one of a number of high-earners at Sunderland who played their part in the consecutive run of 15 Premiership defeats - form which ultimately led to them dropping into the Nationwide League.

Gray joined Celtic in late August on a three-month loan but the Scottish giants decided they could not afford to take him on full-time.

On Tuesday, the former England international joined Blackburn on a two-and-a-half year deal, despite strong interest from Lancashire rivals Bolton.

The Rovers new-boy is looking forward to the challenge at Ewood Park and he is determined not to taste relegation for a second successive season.

"The move happened very quickly and I jumped at the chance to play in the Premiership again at a great club," said Gray, who knows he has moved to a side who are just three points above the drop zone.

"It was disappointing to be relegated with Sunderland, my hometown club, last season and it hurts the way it happened but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

"This is a new challenge - I have only been at one club before full-time and that's Sunderland. There is no question we can climb up the league and that is what I'll be aiming to see happen."

Meanwhile, McCarthy has told his squad to forget about their FA Cup fifth-round clash with Birmingham City.

The Sunderland boss wants to see his players claim six points from their next two League games - against Preston and Watford - before they can consider taking on Steve Bruce's Premiership side.

McCarthy said: "I'm not trying to take the sting out of the Cup - it's a great competition and a good draw for us - but we have two vital games before then.

"Preston is our next game, on Saturday, and that is all that's on my mind at the moment. We lost our last league game and we need to bounce back."

* Rangers have pulled the plug on a dream move to Ibrox for Wolves midfielder Alex Rae.

The 34-year-old former Sunderland player, whose current Molineux deal expires in the summer, has been in outstanding form for the Barclaycard Premiership strugglers this season.

Rae is a Rangers fan and had made it clear he would have considered signing for them despite being released by the club as a teenager.

But the player's age ultimately counted against him even though Rangers have just signed a 33-year-old in Frank de Boer.

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