JAPANESE World Cup star Kazuyuki Toda last night revealed he is desperate to stay on at Sunderland beyond this weekend.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been on trial at the Stadium of Light for the past 11 days and he is due to leave Wearside at the end of the week.

But Toda, who featured in every World Cup game for his country last summer, hopes to make a permanent switch.

The player's club, Shimizu S-Pulse, have already indicated that he can leave on loan until the end of the current campaign, with a view to a more long term deal.

And the S-Pulse man is convinced his style of play will be well suited to the pace of the English top-flight, providing Sunderland take a gamble on him.

"I'm interested to play in the Premiership because it is one of the best leagues in the world, and there is huge interest in it from Japan," said Toda.

"I've enjoyed my time training at Sunderland and I have a desire to play in England. We need to talk and see what happens.

"I like the style of football here although I'll need to adapt to the English game. But we play at a high tempo in Japan so it is not too different."

Toda's hopes of negotiations have been put on hold for four days as Black Cats boss Howard Wilkinson is currently on a four-day training break with his squad in Spain.

But Toda remains hopeful that a deal can be brokered to ensure he plays his football with Sunderland for the remainder of the season.

If both parties agree to a deal, he will follow fellow Japanese stars Junichi Inamoto, formerly of Arsenal and now Fulham, and Portsmouth keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi into this country.

And the middle-man admitted that he has not spoken to those three or other European-based stars from the Far East - choosing instead to make his own assessment of life on this continent.

"Before I came to Sunderland I did not take advice from any of my colleagues playing in Europe, I wanted to find out for myself," Toda said.

"It is the first time I've been involved in Europe at club level although I've played for the national team here.

"I was invited to train at Sunderland and have enjoyed it. It is a good club and the people who support it are very passionate."

Meanwhile, midfielder Paul Thirlwell has revealed he will play on for as long as he can in a bid to boost Sunderland's survival chances.

Thirlwell picked up a calf injury in the 2-1 defeat at Everton on Saturday but he is convinced he can and will play through the pain barrier.

The former England Under-21 star, who has been carrying a hernia problem for the last six weeks, has been unable to take part in training since arriving in Spain with the rest of the squad.

Thirlwell, who hopes to play in the FA Cup fourth round clash at Blackburn on Saturday, said: "I picked up a calf problem at Everton and I haven't trained since we got here but it's not too serious. It should be alright after a couple of days.

"I should be OK for Saturday and if the manager wants me to play then I will. We don't know what his plans are yet, he might want to rest a few of us like he did in the Cup at Bolton - we'll have to wait and see.

"With the hernia problem it's just a case of me plugging away and hoping that it does not get much worse. Hopefully it'll be alright until the summer. That's the plan."

Sunderland chief Wilkinson has taken a 23-man party to Spain ahead of Saturday's trip to Ewood Park.

Hamstring injury victim Stephen Wright, who has not played since January 4, has an outside chance of making a return at Ewood Park.

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