SUNDERLAND outcast Michael Reddy last night revealed he wants to make his loan move to Sheffield Wednesday permanent.

Reddy, 23, is resigned to quitting Sunderland after Mick McCarthy decided not to revive his first-team career on Wearside.

The striker, who will be out of contract next summer, has not played a senior fixture for Sunderland since October 2000, having been jettisoned by Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson.

Now, after joining Wednesday on a three-month deal six weeks ago, Reddy has confessed he wants to stay at Hillsborough.

He said: "It's great to be back at Wednesday and hopefully I can stay here for good. I love the place.

"Sunderland wanted me to move to Northampton in the summer. I had a bit of pressure on me. They were trying to get rid of a lot of players and I was one of them.

"I didn't get many first-team opportunities from Mick McCarthy and I was just pleased to get back to Sheffield and play regular football again. That's important at this stage of my career."

Sean Thornton yesterday pulled out of the Republic of Ireland squad for the World Youth Championship with an ankle injury.

The Sunderland midfielder, who has not played since he was hurt in a reserves match against Newcastle four weeks ago, withdrew from the squad after he was examined by Ireland's medical staff.

Thornton could be sidelined for at least another three weeks, which would have prevented him from playing in any of his country's group games.

Ireland manager Gerry Smith said: "This is a great disappointment to lose a player of Sean's ability, but because of his injury he would not have been fit for our first game. We will just have to get on with it."

Colin Healy is facing a race to be fit for Sunderland's First Division game at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

The midfielder will miss the Republic of Ireland's friendly with Canada tonight after sustaining a toe injury in training.

He said: "It's sore at the moment and I don't know whether I'll be right."