THIS has not been a good month to be a Dutch footballer.

As if September’s surprise 2-1 defeat in the Czech Republic was not bad enough, Monday’s 2-0 humbling in Iceland has plunged Holland into an unseemly scramble to make Euro 2016 despite a qualifying process that was supposed to guard against any of the top sides missing out on the finals in France.

Suddenly, the feel-good factor that accompanied this summer’s surge to the World Cup semi-finals in Brazil is difficult to discern.

The likes of Daley Blind and Robin van Persie, at Manchester United, and Tim Krul and Daryl Janmaat, at Newcastle United, are struggling to find their form on the domestic scene, yet on Wearside, there is one Dutch player who is quietly embellishing his reputation and enjoying the most successful season of his career.

In his five years as a Chelsea player, Patrick van Aanholt made just two senior appearances for the London club. He barely even experienced life at Stamford Bridge as loan spells at Coventry, Newcastle, Leicester, Wigan and Vitesse Arnhem made him a footballing itinerant.

A £1.5m move to Sunderland offered an opportunity to finally find somewhere to call home, and while the 24-year-old is only three months into his stay on Wearside, his run of seven successive starts already represents his longest unbroken run in the Premier League.

Firmly established as the Black Cats’ number one left-back, van Aanholt is part of a defence that has conceded just one goal in the last three league matches. Having laid down the foundations of his Sunderland career, he is now determined to take things to the next level.

“I have played seven games now and think I have improved,” said van Aanholt. “I think I am improving every day. I'm very happy now to have played a few games and to have done pretty well. But I am ready to move on.

“I have been working individually on what I am trying to do. Every training session I am working hard on trying to improve. Tanno (Mauricio Tarrico) has been working hard with me. It's nice to have someone who wants me to learn and tries to teach me.”

Van Aanholt has experienced life in the North-East before when he made seven loan appearances as a replacement for injured Newcastle full-back Jose Enrique in 2010, but that was as a callow youth still feeling his way in the game.

At 24, he is now at an age when he accepts he needs to be establishing himself as a Premier League regular, not to mention adding to the two senior caps he has already won for the Dutch national team.

An athletic, mobile runner, who is at ease with the ball at his feet, van Aanholt fits the mould of the overlapping full-back that has come to dominate the tactical assembly of the modern team.

His defending has occasionally let him down, and he was at least partially to blame for the concession of goals against West Brom and Manchester United this season. His performances since then have been much more secure though, and it is surely only a matter of time before he is part of a burgeoning overseas contingent that leaves Wearside during each international break.

“Of course you want to play for your country,” he said. “But I'm not worried about that at the moment - if I do well over here and I get called up then I'm doing very well for Sunderland.

“If I don't get called up it means I have to work a bit harder. So far I haven't got called up so I need to work a little bit harder in games.

“I was surprised about the Holland defeat against Iceland, of course. It will be tough for us to qualify from here, although I still think that we will.

“Euro 2016? You never know. If I keep improving like I have been then maybe. It is not something that I am worried about at the moment, but if I could be in the squad that would be terrific.”

In the meantime, van Aanholt will concentrate on helping Sunderland push towards the top half of the table, starting with Saturday’s trip to Southampton.

Continuing the Dutch theme, the game at St Mary’s will pit the defender against a Saints side riding the crest of a wave under the tutelage of new boss Ronald Koeman.

“I’m very happy for him, and I know of him really well,” said van Aanholt. “They’ve made an excellent start at Southampton and they’re up there at the top.

“They lost a couple of players at the start of the season, but they’ve built a good team. They are trying to play 4-3-3 and, like us, they like to play out from the back.”

Last season, Sunderland drew at St Mary’s in their opening away game, and having suffered just one defeat in the league all season, the Black Cats will return to the south coast on Saturday in an upbeat mood.

“Every team that plays against us now knows they are going to be in a difficult game,” said van Aanholt. “They know they are going to be in a battle now.

“I heard last season that there were some games where the team were beaten easily, but that was last season, I wasn't here and we have moved on. We are different team - a tough team to play against. We know what we can do and we do those things very well.”