O´Neill stands by captain Cattermole

Martin O’Neill has indicated he is unlikely to drop Sunderland pair Lee Cattermole and Nicklas Bendtner.

The midfielder and the Danish striker, on loan from Arsenal, have been bailed following arrests related to an incident in which cars were damaged in Newcastle city centre.

But O’Neill has suggested both players will keep their places in the squad for Sunday’s clash with Tottenham, while Cattermole will remain as club captain.

“At this minute, I don’t see any reason to change that,” the former Leicester City boss told reporters.

“The team played well against Blackburn but we might change things round, I don’t know at the moment.”

“If someone gets left out of the team after Sunday’s performance, they should consider themselves unfortunate.”

“If Lee plays in the team, he will be captain. I stress, at this minute, I don’t see any reason to change it.”

“Lee is as wholehearted as they come. Even in the little training sessions that we’ve had, he’s vociferous. We might have, generally, a quiet team, but that isn’t really unusual anymore.”

Neither Cattermole nor Bendtner featured in the Black Cats’ victory over Blackburn last weekend, with the former Wigan man serving a suspension while the forward had a groin problem. However, both are available if selected for the trip to White Hart Lane.

O’Neill also plans to contact Asamoah Gyan regarding his future at the club in the coming week, with the Ghanaian striker telling Goal.com a return to Sunderland from Al-Ain in January was not possible.

“The chief executive gave me his number, I haven’t had a chance to call it,” O’Neill said.

“Really, it was just a matter of me introducing myself to him as much as anything else and finding out how the land lies.”

“I think perhaps the club he is involved with have got a pretty strong hold on him in many aspects, but still it would be nice just to have a few words.”

“That I intend to do some time next week.”