AN EMOTIONAL goodbye followed by the high of captaincy selection - this has been a week of mixed emotions for Dan Neil.

But there'll only be one overriding emotion when he leads Sunderland out at Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon wearing the armband: pride.

Neil is something of a rarity. He's not yet 23 but is already fast approaching 150 games for Sunderland and is now the new team captain. It clearly took no time at all for Regis Le Bris to realise the obvious - that Neil is hugely important and influential on and off the pitch on Wearside.

And he'll be even more crucial in the coming weeks and months after the exits of Corry Evans and Elliot Embleton this summer. Neil learnt so much from Evans, as a player and a person, admired Embleton's ability and was "gutted" to see them both depart.

"Corry was the captain of the club from the minute he came in and did an unbelievable job at it," Neil tells The Northern Echo in a sit-down interview at the Academy of Light.

"That first year in League One, the back stretch of games before the play-offs, he was one of our best players, and he had such a cool, calm presence. He wasn't a captain who'd shout, he was very cool and collected and led by example. He was brilliant.

"When he had his injury troubles, he was still in and around it, coming into meetings, still giving me advice. He was brilliant for the club.

"As for Embo, we probably wouldn't be in the Championship without him. We might have won that game anyway but you never know. That massive goal at Wembley, that's the perfect way to remember Embo.

"And he was brilliant in that back stretch. He's had his injury problems but I will say to anyone who asks,, Embo is one of the best trainers I've ever seen and an unbelievable player - left foot, right foot. He just felt it was the best time to move."

Embleton leaves safe in the knowledge he'll always be a hero on Wearside. But what about Neil...when he looks to the future, what would he want his Sunderland legacy to be?

"It's tough to say, I wouldn't pinpoint it on a moment, it would be to give it absolutely everything I possibly could to get us back to the Premier League," he says.

"That would be the ultimate legacy for me, making sure if I did ever leave I can't look back with regret that I didn't give absolutely everything to get back to the Premier League.

"That's everybody's goal in the building right now, to get back to the Premier League as quickly as we can. Legacy for me is knowing deep down I've given absolutely everything on and off the pitch to give us the best chance."

There's no doubting that Neil has given everything since his hugely impressive Sunderland emergence, his fine form on Wearside leading to several Premier League links in recent seasons, with Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal all reportedly admirers.

But the midfielder - who has two years left to run on his current contract, with talks over a new deal ongoing - insists he doesn't get his head turned by the speculation and is only focused on Sunderland and the here and now.

"There's always links and rumours and reports," he says.

"The player and player's representatives and people in the club know exactly what's going on. You know what the situation is.

"If it's me for example, I'm still at Sunderland so my main focus is the next game or getting ready for the start of the season. All the lads are professional and if there's ever any transfer links or reports about the future, everyone is professional and we stick to the business. That's what we'll keep doing."

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On the pitch, the business starts this weekend, with Sunderland looking to put the struggles of last season behind them. One of the major issues on Wearside last term was the form of the club's strikers and the fact a centre-forward has not yet arrived - efforts are ongoing - is a concern for supporters.

But there are a couple of reasons why Neil believes he can ease those concerns. Firstly, while keen to not put too much pressure on the shoulders of Eliezer Mayenda, he thinks the teenage striker has come on a lot in the last 12 months. And he says the rest of Sunderland's players need to take responsibility having failed to play to the strengths of the club's strikers last term.

"When Eliezer first came in last year everyone could see the athleticism, the talent, just maybe a bit too raw," says Neil.

"It would be unfair for him to come in last year from abroad and expect him to be Sunderland's No.9. It's the same with the other two lads as well, Naz (Rusyn) and Hemir, especially Eliezer and Hemir because they're both young lads.

"Obviously Naz is coming from a completely different culture. I think it's unfair to expect them to hit the ground running straight away. But what I've seen this year is Eliezer doesn't look as raw and looks like he could play a part this season if he wants to. That's the key at the end of the day, it's down to him. But from the games he's started in pre-season, we've seen moments where he looks a real threat with that pace.

"I've said in past interviews, we have to get used to playing with a No.9 again. The first year in the Championship when Ross (Stewart) and Ellis (Simms) got injured, we didn't play with a No.9 so got used to it. Then when we brought 9s in last year, we didn't play to their strengths.

"We have to take responsibility from the lack of goals from the strikers. From a team perspective we have to find a way to utilise our strikers again. It's tough because we did so well without one, so when one comes back we were stuck in that way. But we have to get used to it because that was our downfall last year."