SUNDERLAND might be working on a replacement for Connor Wickham, but one of Dick Advocaat’s earlier summer signings has described the relief he feels after securing a future on Wearside.

South American defender Sebastian Coates spent last season on loan at the Stadium of Light and, before a fantastic finish to the campaign, a long-term stay had hardly even entered his mind.

The former Liverpool defender, who claims it was an ‘easy decision’ to leave Anfield after failing to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans, is excited about starting the new campaign with a full pre-season schedule behind him.

“It’s too early to say what we can do this season because we don’t know about the other teams,” said Coates, who hopes to start against Hannover in Germany this evening. “Hopefully we will get better results this season and avoid the sort of season we had last season.

“The new players have shown they are great players, like Younes Kaboul at Tottenham and then Jeremain (Lens) has come in and you can tell he has the ability, the talent. We need to be focused and not to remember last season.

“If I am here it is for a reason and I want to show I can play. It’s great to have Kaboul here with myself, Wes Brown and John O’Shea competing for a place. We have good players here and I will learn from these every day. I enjoy training with them every day.”

Coates moved from Liverpool in a £2m deal after convincing Advocaat he deserved a permanent move towards the back end of last season when he helped Sunderland stay up with some strong defensive displays.

“Last year I didn’t play too much at the start because I was injured, then I struggled to get in the team so I was thinking about what I would do this summer,” said the 24-year-old. “I didn’t know where I would be. I was frustrated. Every player wants to play. There was a little frustration during that time.

“I think I have a great chance to play regularly now. The manager will pick the team and we will see. Hopefully I am fit and that will help me. It was an easy decision to leave Liverpool because I know the manager, my team-mates, the club and supporters here.

“It was a really easy decision. The last few months changed everything, that’s football. It was a great couple of months here. I enjoyed the entire season but the last month was much better and that made it easy to come back.”

Coates moved from Uruguayan club Nacional in the summer of 2011 but only made six Premier League starts at Liverpool. In one year at Sunderland he made nine, with the majority of those arriving late on.

He said: “I never really thought I would leave Liverpool this summer when I was with Sunderland last season. But I knew I would have to speak with the club. This is a big opportunity to play in the Premier League and that is why I came to England in the first place.”

“I don’t think I am disappointed with what happened at Liverpool. I would have liked more chances but didn’t get those. That’s football. You never know what will happen. Now I am here hopefully I will have more chances to play.”

After adding Younes Kaboul and Adam Matthews to Sunderland’s defensive options this summer, Advocaat is focused on adding to the squad’s attacking group. Provided Wickham completes his £9m move to Crystal Palace after discussing personal terms yesterday, a new striker is high in the thinking.

PSV Eindhoven’s playmaker Ola Toivonen, Fenerbahce’s Moussa Sow and Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes are three of the names known to be under consideration. Whoever comes in will have Lens, the £9m buy from Dynamo Kiev, behind him.

Lens is expected to feature prominently against Hannover today. He said: “I only had two weeks holiday so I was in good shape anyway. This season can start already. It was good to play with my team-mates for the first time against Doncaster; we have one game left until the start of the season.

“We will try to do better on Saturday. It was good to hear people say I played well, now it is about making sure I do the same in the second game and perform like this and even better for the season. I know some players for Hannover and it will be a difficult game, but we have some quality in this group and we can beat anybody.”