Lee Cattermole will continue to skipper Sunderland despite his troubled start to the season, manager Steve Bruce has confirmed.
Cattermole was sent off twice in the opening four games of the Black Cats’ Premier League campaign, and Bruce admitted he would consider the 22-year-old’s future as captain.
Cattermole returns from suspension at Liverpool this Saturday, and Bruce has decided to give the player a reprieve.
The Black Cats boss said: “I made a decision at the start of the season – and a conscious one – that he is the captain, and I am going to stand by him. He is still my captain.
“I was convinced it was the right thing to do when I gave him it, and after what has happened to him, I am convinced that in the long term, Sunderland will benefit from Lee Cattermole being captain of the club.
“The other night (against West Ham), we missed Lee Cattermole. I genuinely think the team is better when he is in it.”