Adam Johnson: "I spoke to the manager and I was fine with it. I understood.
"You've got to respect his decision and I was totally fine with that. Maybe it was a kick up the backside, but I didn't really feel like I needed it!
"It was the manager's decision and I'm back in the team now.
"I've only missed a half of football since I've been here so I wasn't too disappointed.
"Now we're back in touching distance.
"If we can get another three or four points over the next few games, people won't be writing us off again.
"There's so much more football to be played. We didn't get carried away by where we were at the beginning of the season.
"We're still in a bit of trouble, but it looks a lot better now.
"The two home wins before Man City lifted us massively anyway. But that win gave us an extra lift going into the international break.
"That win was huge for us.
"The home games haven't been kind in recent weeks, but now we've got some winnable away games.
"If we can keep a clean sheet, we know we can cause problems with our attack.
"I think it's important to go to Stoke and carry on what we've been doing and then we should come out with a good result."
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES ...
Saturday November 23
12:45 Everton v Liverpool
15:00 Arsenal v Southampton
15:00 Fulham v Swansea City
15:00 Hull City v Crystal Palace
15:00 Newcastle United v Norwich City
15:00 Stoke City v Sunderland
17:30 West Ham United v Chelsea
Sunday November 24
13:30 Manchester City v Tottenham
16:00 Cardiff City v Man Utd
Monday November 25
20:00 West Brom v Aston Villa
Sunderland Fixtures
Saturday November 23
15:00 Premier League Stoke City v Sunderland
Saturday November 30
15:00 Premier League Aston Villa v Sunderland
Wednesday December 4
19:45 Premier League Sunderland v Chelsea
Saturday December 7
17:30 Premier League Sunderland v Tottenham
Saturday December 14
15:00 Premier League West Ham United v Sunderland
Tuesday December 17
19:45 League Cup - Qtr Sunderland v Chelsea
Saturday December 21
15:00 Premier League Sunderland v Norwich City
Thursday December 26
15:00 Premier League Everton v Sunderland
Saturday December 28
17:30 Premier League Cardiff City v Sunderland