MOROCCAN defender Talal El Karkouri has admitted that his friends thought he was mad to join Sunderland.

Yet El Karkouri, signed on loan from Paris St. Germain by sacked manager Howard Wilkinson just before the transfer window closed in January, has revealed he hopes new boss Mick McCarthy agrees to offer him a permanent deal - despite the looming prospect of relegation.

"When I first decided to come here, some of my friends asked me why I wanted to go to a club that was near the bottom of the Premiership,'' said El Karkouri.

"But, even though I had three, four or five different offers, it was my choice to come to Sunderland and I don't regret it.''

El Karkouri, 26, still has a year to run on his PSG contract, but stressed: "I'd like to stay at Sunderland, whether they are in the Premiership or the First Division next season.

"I'm not thinking that I don't want to play in Division One if the team gets relegated this season, because if that does happen you can be sure they will be back straight away and I would like to be part of that.

"I was in the team at PSG, but I spoke to the manager and asked if I could go on loan, even though I had no problems with the other players, the coach or the fans.

"It was a big surprise for everyone when I left to come to England but it was what I wanted - I wanted to play in the Premiership."

El Karkouri, who has been on the losing side in his six appearances, conceded: "The results have been bad.

"But there are a lot of good people at the club, the fans are good and it makes us all sick to see the club on the verge of going down."

With the Black Cats 13 points adrift of safety, striker Tore Andre Flo has claimed that a lack of on-field leadership has contributed to their downfall.

The Norwegian international, who has managed only four League goals since he became Sunderland's record £8.2m signing when Peter Reid lured him from Rangers early this season, said: "I thought there would be more shouting between the players.

"Some players are louder than others. In my time at Chelsea, it was Dennis Wise; he was a very good captain and you need leaders.''

Amazingly, Flo also insisted that Wilkinson "did a great job'' in his five months in charge, a spell which saw Sunderland win only two of their 20 Premiership games and sink to the foot of the table.

"Managers have different styles,'' said Flo.

"I don't want to compare managers, though. I think Howard did a great job; he did everything he could.

"Now we have a new manager and everyone wants to show him that they are good enough for the team.

"I feel that the players are sticking together. I thought it would be more difficult in the dressing room than this with a team who are bottom of the table, but there is a very good atmosphere.''

Meanwhile, Flo's compatriot, Thomas Myhre, has labelled Sunderland's season a "catastrophe''.

The former Everton goalkeeper, signed by Reid last summer after being released from Turkish side Besiktas, has started only two games for the Wearsiders because of injury.

He said: "The season has been a catastrophe, a nightmare with no limits.''

* Sunderland's Mark Rossiter is the fourth player from the club to be named in the Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad.

The full-back, 19, joins Thomas Butler, Sean Thornton and Cliff Byrne in Don Givens' party for tomorrow's game with Georgia.

Ireland Under-21s also face Albania next week in the second game of a European Championship qualifying double-header.

Sunderland midfielder Jason McAteer withdrew from the senior Republic squad on Monday with a hamstring injury, and won't return to training until next week.

Read more about Sunderland here.