SUNDERLAND'S Young Player of the Year, Gavin McCann, will be happy just to be involved in tonight's televised Premiership clash against his old club Everton at the Stadium of Light.

The 22-year-old midfielder made an impressive return to first team action after a nine-month injury absence when he came on as substitute and played an important part in the 2-1 victory against Manchester United which took the Wearsiders through to the quarter-finals of the Worthington Cup.

Sunderland manager Peter Reid was full of praise for the way McCann performed and the home fans in the record 47,000 crowd were impressed.

But McCann, who had played in only two reserve team matches before being named as substitute for the cuptie, knows he must be patient as he continues his build-up to full match fitness.

He said: "I felt tired at the end of the game, but it was good to be involved again and I enjoyed it.

"I was glad when the game went into extra time because it helped me get into it more. But I know I've got to take things steadily."

McCann damaged his cruciate knee ligaments at Coventry in February and had to undergo surgery, which abruptly ended his season. But the Wearside fans still voted him the club's best young player.

McCann said: "It was a bad injury and I had a couple of setbacks when I had to go back into hospital to get things sorted out and fluid on my knee kept coming back.

"It has been a great relief to get back, but I still have a lot of work to do building up my leg.

"The injury came at a bad time and I have been out for nine months.

"Now I just need to carry on gradually and try to pick up from where I left off and try to get back into the team.

"But there is a lot more competition for places now because the gaffer has brought new players in."

McCann has made rapid strides since Reid decided to invest £500,000 on signing a virtually unknown player from Goodison Park.

But McCann is happy to concentrate on his future rather than look back on his career at Everton, where he made only 11 appearances in his five years after joining the club from school.

McCann said: "My time at Everton is in the past. I've only played one first team game since coming back from injury and I would be happy just to be involved against my old club as substitute."

Sunderland coach Bobby Saxton is delighted with the way McCann has put his serious injury behind him.

He said: "It was a big bonus to see Gavin do so well for an hour against Manchester United.

"He was tired at the end but that wasn't surprising for the work he put in and the energy he expended. It was an outstanding performance for someone who hadn't played in the first team since February."

Saxton is also pleased to see Swedish international Stefan Schwarz back in the reckoning. He was on the bench against Manchester United but wasn't used.

He played the followingt night in the 1-1 reserve team draw against Middlesbrough, scoring his third goal in his three second-string outings.

Saxton said: "You want everyone available and pushing for a place in the first team.

"This is the strongest squad we have had at the club by a mile.

"The team which won the First Division Championship with a record number of points was a good squad at that level, but not as good as this one. We have a lot more experience now.

"There is competition for places all over the park, which is what you need.

"If you don't have people challenging to be in the team complacency can set in.

"But if you know there are people desperate to get into the side it keeps everyone on their toes."

With Emerson Thome expected to have recovered from a badly-bruised knee and Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen available after a slight concussion which forced his substitution against Manchester United, Reid will have a full squad on stand-by against his former club.

Sunderland (from): Sorensen, Makin, Thome, Craddock, Gray, Hutchison, Rae, Williams, Kilbane, Phillips, Quinn, Arca, McCann, Schwarz, Dichio, Varga, Roy, Varga.

l Colin Todd strolled into the post-match press conference in mid-conversation on a mobile phone, joking that it was a new signing on the other end.

But in fact it has been the signing of Todd himself as assistant manager which has signalled a Derby revival that culminated in the Rams climbing out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at Ipswich.

Republic of Ireland international Rory Delap took the glory on Saturday with his fourth goal of the season to inflict only Ipswich's second league defeat in 11 games.

The versatile 24-year-old, who finished last season as top scorer with nine goals, was pressed into service as a makeshift striker in the absence of Branko Strupar and capitalised on some slack Ipswich defending to fire past Keith Branagan on 28 minutes.

From then on, however, it was a backs to the wall effort from the Rams and they kept their fourth clean sheet in five league matches with a determined display, in the process ending the home side's proud record of scoring in every Premiership game this season.

Only Manchester United have found a way through the Derby defence since Todd's arrival in early November