AS the experienced head in the Sunderland camp, captain Gary Breen has been encouraged by manager Mick McCarthy to air his views, good or bad, to the rest of the squad.

And Breen is not the only man to have taken to clearing his grievances with team-mates at the Stadium of Light, with the Black Cats believing it's good to talk in their bid to gain promotion to the Premiership.

Only last week the Irishman's defensive partner Steve Caldwell called his skipper a moaner and Breen is more than happy to have that role - although he claims he is not the only one.

Last Saturday's defeat to Brighton sparked a number of dressing room rows between the players and coaching staff and they all had the desired effect, as it led to the 4-1 crushing of Rotherham on Tuesday night.

Today another struggling Championship side, Cardiff City, visit Wearside and Breen believes letting off steam on the training ground is a good way to build team spirit.

"I'm sure I speak more than the others when they do take place but everyone gets an opportunity to say what they think has gone wrong," said Breen. "Whether they are wrong or right we all get together as a unit and we do that when we win or lose.

"It's not every game but if we have won a game and certain things happen we try not to paper over the cracks. When we have a young team the experienced players can do it themselves. The young players need to know exactly what is expected of them.

"Steve Caldwell is not bad at moaning himself. He also has an important part to play. He may not be the oldest among us but he has more experience than most of the squad at first team level. He's quite intelligent and it's important to listen to what he has to say.

"We all just have a real determination to get Sunderland back in to the Premiership. If that's what's needed then so be it."

McCarthy's meetings are designed to build team spirit as much as they are to iron out mistakes and the former Republic of Ireland boss' idea appears to be working.

"We had a meeting on Monday and there were a few heated exchanges about the Brighton game then it was over with. It was more about being relaxed and not being het up. We won on Tuesday so they must work to some extent," he said.

"I encourage players to voice frustrations. Whoever is to blame is blamed. They should be told what they have done. It's healthy. The best teams have always had it and that's important."

Breen's form at the heart of the Sunderland defence has been instrumental in the club's rise to third in the Championship table, sitting just three points adrift of the top two.

But the 31-year-old has not been able to help Sunderland keep a clean sheet since December 11, the last of five successive shut-outs was ironically at Cardiff on December 11 while he was in the team.

Breen insists Sunderland do not like conceding goals but are not too concerned so long as they are winning. "I don't worry about goals getting past us but sometimes they are frustrating," said Breen, knowing the two clean sheets kept in the last games where achieved without him.

"We have won a few games 1-0 so we are not worrying too much. Take Rotherham's goal on Tuesday, it was a fantastic goal and there's no point beating ourselves up about it.

"I enjoy this stage of the season because this is the business end when it matters. We are on the verge of going top but we don't think too much about it because there's a long way to go. We just have to keep working hard."

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