Kenwyne Jones

By The Black Cats
February 9 2009

Northern Ireland International David Healy says Sunderland’s resolve to hang on to Kenwyne Jones could make all the difference in the Black Cats’ battle for Premier League survival.

Jones and Healy were the scorers in Saturday's 2-0 win over Stoke City which opened up  a seven-point safety margin between the Wearsiders and the drop zone.

The Black Cats turned down an offer of £20million plus Darren Bent from Tottenham for the Trinidadian.

Healy believes that decision is a sign of the club’s growing ambitions.

Healy said: “Both Kenwyne and Djibril Cisse are popping up with very important goals for us. The fact the club turned down a very big bid and the chance to bring a player of Darren Bent’s quality here shows just how highly everyone rates Kenwyne.

“He did it again on Saturday and these are goals which should hopefully end up keeping this club in the Premier League.

“You cannot put a value on that.

“We are not a one-man team and the determination of Sunderland to keep hold of their best players shows how ambitious the club are to not just be survivors at this level but really make a mark.”

The win over stoke has eased Sunderland's relegation worries but was hard to come by - the goals coming in the last 12 minutes of the game, includnig the last kick of the match.

Somehow referee Rob Styles and his assistants missed a blatant handball by Pugh on the Stoke goal line from a Steed Malbranque header. Had the decision gone Sunderlands way the game would have been much different as Pugh would have been sent off and a penalty awarded.

However Stoke winger Matthew Etherington did see red in the second half for kicking out at Danny Collins after being fouled.

Sunderland were lucky to keep a clean sheet, Henri Camara hit the bar from three yards out before Jones broke the deadlock on 78 minutes.

Healy, who replaced Djibril Cissé, sealed the victory four minutes into injury time with his first Premier League goal for the club.

Healy said: “It was a blatant handball and should have been a red card and a penalty.

“Stoke survived it and might think Etherington’s sending off was a bit harsh.

“With the clock ticking down, I thought it was not going to happen for us. Thankfully we managed to get the goals we needed, because it was a huge win.

“We were pleased to see the league table and that we are up to 11th but we are by no means safe.

“We have to keep grinding out results and believe we can go away and take something from the top five or six clubs.”