RICKY Sbragia has revealed that a frank talk was the catalyst for David Healy’s sudden resurgence in form.

Healy has scored two goals in his last two Sunderland appearances, comfortably his best return since a £1.2m move from Fulham in the summer.

Little more than a month ago, the Northern Ireland international was struggling to make an appearance from the substitutes’ bench, let alone score a goal.

But a make-or-break chat with Sbragia, in which the Black Cats boss effectively told the striker to shape up or ship out, led to a marked change in attitude that has transformed Healy’s fortunes.

“We had big a chat before the Everton game (on Dec 28) because we didn’t think David was doing enough,” said Sbragia.

“Since that chat, he’s been doing absolutely super.

“We just said to him that whatever happened previously was forgotten about, that it was a clean sheet. But we also felt he wasn’t quite up to the boil in training. He was just doing enough, but we knew he could have done more.

“Since that day, he’s been excellent. We thought he could give more link-up play, more physical and more mental play, more involvement in general. Sometimes training was bypassing him.

“He might have thought there wasn’t an opening for him, but it was always there.

He just had to force the opening.”

With Michael Chopra back at Cardiff, Healy has been elevated to the role of Sunderland’s number three striker, behind Djibril Cisse and Kenwyne Jones.

While he started last week’s FA Cup replay at Blackburn, he is still to start a Premier League game for the Black Cats, a fact that underlines just how influential Cisse and Jones have become.

Sbragia is unlikely to split his preferred partnership in the final three-and-a-half months of the season, but Healy’s ability to play wide as well as an out-and-out striker means he could yet force his way into Sunderland’s firstchoice starting line-up.

“Starting with all three is a possibility,” said Sbragia.

“That would be with Kenwyne as the main striker and the other two playing around him. We were thinking about doing that a couple of weeks ago.

“The important thing is that David loves being here at Sunderland. He enjoys being around the place, and he knows he’s wanted.

“He’s definitely part of my plans, and that’s one of the reasons why we let Michael go.”

Healy is on international duty this week, but the 29- year-old is already looking forward to Sunderland’s next Premier League fixture at Arsenal.

He is delighted to be part of a club that displayed its ambition by rebuffing Tottenham’s £15m offer for Jones.

“The determination of Sunderland to keep hold of their best players shows just how ambitious the club is,” said Healy.