EVERTON fan Alan Stubbs has described the torture of walking away from the club he has supported all his life - but wants to make sure his Merseyside contract troubles work to the benefit of new employers Sunderland.

After rejecting a 12-month extension to his Toffees' contract this summer, Stubbs has put pen to paper on a one-year deal on Wearside with the option of a further season with the Black Cats.

The centre-back's move has already had an effect on the rest of the squad and manager Mick McCarthy has told Neill Collins that he can go out on loan.

But the experienced Stubbs admits it was difficult to leave the club he has followed since childhood and points to his battle with testicular cancer five years ago as one of the reasons why he refuses to worry too much about working life.

"I'm back to being just a fan of Everton. Whenever I'm off I will go and watch them," said Stubbs.

"It's disappointing things never worked out. I felt the four years I had given to Everton meant I deserved more than what they were offering.

"But it's gone now and I'm a Sunderland player. I want to achieve things here.

"The cancer illness changed me as a person. It made me look at life in a different way. When I got that I realised football comes second. It stands me in great stead leaving a club like Everton but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt.

"All my family are blue and I was brought up loving Everton. A lot of fans told me not to leave and told me to sign a year because I would get another after that.

"But it was more a personal thing. Money wasn't an issue. I have to state that because some people think that. I wanted two years. I said I would consider a year option."

Stubbs captained Everton to fourth place in the Premiership last season but was forced to train on his own this summer in local parks while he tried to sort out a new club.

The 33-year-old admits to having been in limbo for longer than he would have liked but, with him due to make his debut at AZ Alkmaar on Saturday, he believes he will be ready to aid Sunderland's survival bid.

Stubbs, who knows Everton were tipped as relegation fodder at the start of last season, has been impressed with what he has seen on Wearside so far.

"When you are out of contract there's always apprehensions about what lies ahead," said Stubbs, who was joined in training yesterday by Torpedo Moscow's Estonian striker Andres Oper.

"But I have always been a believer in my ability and I knew something would happen.

"It's a completely different challenge here. At Everton we'd be looking to stay in the top six, which is going to be a big challenge. At Sunderland we will be one of the favourites to go down. But that's up to me and the lads to prove people wrong.

"Last season at Everton we were fifth favourites to go down and ironically we finished in a Champions League spot. If that's not an incentive to spur people here on then there's not a lot you can look at."

Stubbs' arrival has had a negative effect on Neill Collins, who is looking for a loan move away from Wearside.

McCarthy admitted: "Neill Collins will go out on loan somewhere to get the benefit for him and for us and it'll do him the world of good. He needs to play, he only played 12 games last season.

"Championship would be nice for him but if it's in League One and he's playing every week, then that'll be good.

"He came from Dumbarton, he needs to go out and get more experience."

Striker Kevin Kyle has been in Germany for the past two days to see if specialist Dr Hans Moeller Wohlfahrt can find a cure to his on-going hip problems.

* Peter Crouch has been ruled out for up to three weeks after a scan on the hamstring injury that forced him out of Liverpool's Champions League success over FBK Kaunus.

The £7m striker limped off after just 54 minutes at Anfield on Tuesday and is now certain to miss next week's third qualifying round first leg.

He will also miss the start of the Barclays Premiership campaign but is suspended for the first two games against Middlesbrough and Sunderland anyway.

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