Sunderland AFC manager David Moyes, has stated that he believes that loanee Jason Denayer's future lies in the centre of defence.

Belongs at the back

The young Belgian has proven quite the addition to Moyes' squad, after securing his season-long loan from Manchester City this summer. The 21-year-old has recently returned from injury, and since his return has been played in midfield, where has thrived over the past few weeks.

He played there once again on Saturday during their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, and after the match Moyes praised his performance, but insisted that his future belongs in the centre of defence.

"We sort of put him on Coutinho at the start of the game to try to nullify him,” Moyes told the Sunderland Echo. “My job was not to come here and to entertain the Anfield crowd."

"My job was to come here to try to get a result for Sunderland." he stated. “We didn’t get it unfortunately, but we tried hard to do it."

“Jason was disciplined – he’s just getting used to the Premier League and the speed of things," the Scotsman added. “We’re pleased he’s beginning to have an impact with us now."

"He played there last week and did a good job and I think he will become a central defender," Moyes concluded. "He may just need a little bit of time.”

Positives to take

The Black Cats have improved immensely over the last few weeks, with the back-to-back victories over Bournemouth and relegation rivals Hull City. Despite the defeat at the weekend, they performed well at Anfield and skipper John O'Shea said the improvement in the squad is clear to see.

“We have the ability to score goals and get clean sheets," said O'Shea. “Combine those two things, we are very close."

“Another day and we could have been coming away from Anfield with a clean sheet and a point," the skipper admitted. “It is very positive, from that point of view."

“The team and the players have grown," he stated. "The players that have arrived in the summer have now settled in; Victor [Anichebe], Didier [Ndong] and Jason [Denayer]."

“You see them all grow. Duncan [Watmore], Lynden Gooch and Jordan [Pickford] are all coming on," O'Shea concluded. "There are plenty of positives.”

Sunderland AFC will take on Leicester City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, December 3 with kick-off at 3pm BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.