13 May 2011 14:48:00<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n\n\n![\"BPL,](\"http:\/\/u.goal.com\/120000\/120032_news.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBPL, Sunderland and Aston Villa, Jordan Henderson (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nSunderland<\/a>‘s early ambitions of a top-ten finish may have been replaced by relegation fears in the second half of the season but midfielder Jordan Henderson<\/a> claims the players on Wearside were never worried about slipping out of the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\nA strong start to the campaign saw the Black Cats sat comfortably in the top-half of the table, but with a run of one win in 10 games between February and April, Steve Bruce\u2019s side gradually found themselves getting closer to the realms of the bottom three.<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, Henderson insists there was never any worry of falling into England\u2019s second-tier of football and believes that Sunderland have a lot to offer in the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\nOn being asked if the players ever thought the team would go down, Henderson told Absolute Radio<\/em>: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so, I think we\u2019ve been pretty confident and we\u2019ve got a good enough squad to handle ourselves and play well in the Premier League, and I think we\u2019re showing that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had a bit of a bad run over the last couple of months, but Wednesday against Wigan and Bolton were good wins for us.\u00a0 But no, I don\u2019t think that was in our mind, I think we\u2019re more concentrating on looking up, and I think we can still do that now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nOn a personal level, Henderson\u2019s season has been an undoubted success, having earned his first cap for England after a string of impressive performances for his club and the 20-year-old believes there is more to come as he develops as a player.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI think it\u2019s been a good season,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cObviously getting the England cap was a massive honour for me and hopefully, if I keep working harder, I\u2019ll get another opportunity, but I think on a personal level I think I\u2019ve improved as a player and I\u2019ve learned a lot, and hopefully I can carry on to do that and keep improving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nManager Steve Bruce has come under pressure at certain points of the season, but Henderson praised the former Manchester United player as well as his backroom staff and believes the 2011\/12 campaign can eclipse the current one.<\/span><\/p>\nHenderson said: \u201cI think the gaffer\u2019s been brilliant and the staff, his assistants have been really good and been brilliant with the players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be the same next season. Pre-season they\u2019ll want us to do what we\u2019re trying to achieve and how we\u2019re going to go about doing that and get everyone on board, and hopefully this season will be better than this one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nSunderland play relegation battlers Wolves this weekend and the Black Cats still have hopes of a top-ten finish, but Henderson is aware of how fired up Mick McCarthy\u2019s squad will be as they look to survive in the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWolves will be a really tough game. I watched them at the weekend and they were really up for it and deserved to win the game so this week will be no different, they\u2019ll be really up for the game, because they\u2019re fighting for their lives really and we\u2019ve got to make sure that we compete against that and we play just as well as we did last week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThis Saturday Absolute Radio\u2019s Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll Football Live travels to The Stadium of Light for their feature game Sunderland\u00a0 v Wolves which kicks off at 12.45pm. An FA Cup Final Review Special will follow the game. You can tune in every Saturday on Absolute Radio extra – on DAB Digital Radio, 1215AM and online in the UK. Tune in for the full Jordan Henderson interview. For more go to www.absoluteradio.co.uk\/football<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBPL, Sunderland and Aston Villa, Jordan Henderson (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Related Links<\/h4>\nTeams<\/h4>\nPlayers<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
Players<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n Sunderland<\/a>‘s early ambitions of a top-ten finish may have been replaced by relegation fears in the second half of the season but midfielder Jordan Henderson<\/a> claims the players on Wearside were never worried about slipping out of the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\n A strong start to the campaign saw the Black Cats sat comfortably in the top-half of the table, but with a run of one win in 10 games between February and April, Steve Bruce\u2019s side gradually found themselves getting closer to the realms of the bottom three.<\/span><\/p>\n However, Henderson insists there was never any worry of falling into England\u2019s second-tier of football and believes that Sunderland have a lot to offer in the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\n On being asked if the players ever thought the team would go down, Henderson told Absolute Radio<\/em>: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so, I think we\u2019ve been pretty confident and we\u2019ve got a good enough squad to handle ourselves and play well in the Premier League, and I think we\u2019re showing that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a bit of a bad run over the last couple of months, but Wednesday against Wigan and Bolton were good wins for us.\u00a0 But no, I don\u2019t think that was in our mind, I think we\u2019re more concentrating on looking up, and I think we can still do that now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On a personal level, Henderson\u2019s season has been an undoubted success, having earned his first cap for England after a string of impressive performances for his club and the 20-year-old believes there is more to come as he develops as a player.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s been a good season,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cObviously getting the England cap was a massive honour for me and hopefully, if I keep working harder, I\u2019ll get another opportunity, but I think on a personal level I think I\u2019ve improved as a player and I\u2019ve learned a lot, and hopefully I can carry on to do that and keep improving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Manager Steve Bruce has come under pressure at certain points of the season, but Henderson praised the former Manchester United player as well as his backroom staff and believes the 2011\/12 campaign can eclipse the current one.<\/span><\/p>\n Henderson said: \u201cI think the gaffer\u2019s been brilliant and the staff, his assistants have been really good and been brilliant with the players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be the same next season. Pre-season they\u2019ll want us to do what we\u2019re trying to achieve and how we\u2019re going to go about doing that and get everyone on board, and hopefully this season will be better than this one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sunderland play relegation battlers Wolves this weekend and the Black Cats still have hopes of a top-ten finish, but Henderson is aware of how fired up Mick McCarthy\u2019s squad will be as they look to survive in the Premier League.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWolves will be a really tough game. I watched them at the weekend and they were really up for it and deserved to win the game so this week will be no different, they\u2019ll be really up for the game, because they\u2019re fighting for their lives really and we\u2019ve got to make sure that we compete against that and we play just as well as we did last week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This Saturday Absolute Radio\u2019s Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll Football Live travels to The Stadium of Light for their feature game Sunderland\u00a0 v Wolves which kicks off at 12.45pm. An FA Cup Final Review Special will follow the game. You can tune in every Saturday on Absolute Radio extra – on DAB Digital Radio, 1215AM and online in the UK. Tune in for the full Jordan Henderson interview. For more go to www.absoluteradio.co.uk\/football<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n