JACK ROSS would be more than happy to see Bryan Oviedo remain part of his Sunderland squad beyond this month, even if the situation is out of his hands.

Oviedo has impressed the Black Cats manager with his approach since returning to the club after his World Cup appearance with Costa Rica.

Even though he would prefer to leave to play at a higher level, and the club would be happy to see his Premier League wage packet disappear, he has shown great professionalism since joining back up with Sunderland.

That was why he was rewarded with a place in the squad against Charlton last Saturday and he contributed with a strong performance, including sending over the cross that led to Lynden Gooch heading in the stoppage-time winner.

“Bryan seems alright,” said Ross. “He is a fairly relaxed guy anyway. All the communication I have had with him, to see his mood on the training pitch, I think he has enjoyed what we are doing and how we do it.

“There has not been any time since he came back that I have found him to be surly or disappointed he is here. He is positive all the time.

“If you weren’t really content I don’t think he would have produced the performance he did on Saturday. That was reflective of somebody who is fairly happy at the moment. We will wait to see how things pan out over the next few weeks.

“I don’t know if we can afford to keep him. At the moment I am not under any duress to not consider any players for my squad for those reasons. In that sense I just get on with it.

“There has never been any communication to me, saying don’t consider Bryan or Lee Cattermole because of their contractual situations. I am just making the best use of what I have got.”

Oviedo moved to Sunderland in January last year from Everton as part of a deal involving Darron Gibson. He is talented and extremely good on the ball, so would be a really useful tool as Sunderland look to attack League One with promotion intent.

And Ross said: “I have always taken the players as I find them. Bryan was slightly different because he came in slightly later. I got off to a good start with him because I gave him extra time off after the World Cup.

“Since he has come in, he has trained well. He has been receptive to everything asked of him and he has been around the squad. He hasn’t played with us much, so we needed an understanding of what we were trying to do.

“Circumstances meant we had the opportunity to use him earlier on Saturday. His performance level was great in the game, he has been great in training this week.

“There are some players who have always been the subject of more attention for fairly obvious reasons but I have taken each and every one of them as I have found them. Bryan and Lee have been nothing but receptive to what we are trying to do. That’s credit to them.”

But Ross is under no illusions about where Oviedo would prefer to be.

Ross said: “I think he, like a number of players, will have his own ambitions and aspirations in terms of the level he plays the game. The contractual aspect is probably above my level, naturally as a manager you just want to pick the best players you have but I have always had an understanding of the economics of it.

“Can I say without absolute certainty he will still be here at the end of the month? I couldn’t but I would probably say that about all the players who fall into that bracket.

“There are big decisions for the club, that’s where he is at the moment. Every single day he comes in, he does things properly. I enjoy working with him. We will see how it pans out in the next couple of weeks.”

Oviedo can still move abroad despite the closure of the window and he could go on loan to a Championship club.