Striker Proctor is worth a gamble

Proctor started up front alongside Phillips for the first time at Blackburn on Saturday, and both players found the net in the FA Cup tie which ended 3-3.

It was the fourth occasion Proctor has scored this season and that figure is just one goal behind Sunderland's post-war record goalscorer's haul for the campaign.

But the 22-year-old does not believe he is ready to go head-to-head with Phillips in the race to become the club's leading scorer just yet.

And instead Proctor is just taking the time to learn as much as he can from the £10m rated former England star.

"Kev's different class and it's great to train and play with him," said the Black Cats man. "It makes life a lot easier when you play alongside such a good player.

"It would be great to be up there challenging with Kev to become top-scorer but I'm not sure he's ready for that. I think there's a few goals left in him yet!

"I would like to think I can score goals whenever I get in the right positions.

"I have picked up a lot, and will pick up a lot more, from a striker like Kevin Phillips.

"And hopefully I will get even better as time goes on."

When Sunderland boss Howard Wilkinson took over at the Stadium of Light, Proctor was on loan at Bradford City.

But Wilkinson had heard a lot about Proctor, who was also on loan at York City last season, from his assistant Steve Cotterill, who was a big admirer while in charge of Cheltenham in the Third Division at that time.

When the young forward first was recalled from his Valley Parade stint, Bradford boss Nicky Law had suggested the player was not ready for the pace of the top-flight.

However, he has been proving Law wrong with a string of fine displays for relegation threatened Sunderland.

And Proctor - expected to keep his place at home to Southampton tonight - is determined to keep the club he supported as a child in the Premiership, he said: "I'm a Sunderland fan and it means a lot for me to be playing and it means a lot for me to be scoring. There was a time when I thought it might not happen.

"But this was always the place where I wanted to play my football and luckily for me the manager has thrown me in and I'm enjoying it.

"I'm not sure what Nicky Law said about me but I got on well with Nicky.

"He took a chance on me when other managers didn't seem to want to do that.

"But I went there and I thought I proved I could play at a higher level and now I'm trying to do the same in the Premiership."

But Proctor admits he has had to adapt to the pace of football among England's elite quickly.

And he insists he has got the mentality to work hard and do everything Wilkinson asks of him.

"It's been a big jump for me but the lads have helped me out a lot," said Proctor, who has also played on the right of midfield. "Kev especially and when I've been in midfield the lads in midfield have helped me as well.

"I would say that I work hard and that's what the manager demands from us.

"We all know we have to have that hard work ethic or the manager will not pick us."

* Southampton goalkeeper Antti Niemi is backing struggling Sunderland to pull themselves clear of trouble and beat relegation.

Southampton are one of the teams to have beaten them of late thanks to a injury time goal from substitute Jo Tessem which clinched a 2-1 win last month.

But Niemi believes that Sunderland have enough quality to move out of the bottom three.

He said: ''It's difficult because there are a lot of teams who could be drawn into it. It's hard to predict who will go down but I don't think Sunderland will.

''They've got some good players, great fans and a very good stadium. I don't know why they're struggling. It's a difficult league and there aren't too many points separating the bottom three from mid-table and they were unlucky when we played them over Christmas. I've played against a few of their team, like Tore Andre Flo, and they're good players. We certainly won't be underestimating them."

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