SUNDERLAND fans have witnessed a greater attacking onus on the team's play under Paolo Di Canio and now midfielder Alfred N'Diaye has confirmed even he has been given greater freedom to roam.

Martin O'Neill's £3.8m January buy has had something of a difficult opening few months on Wearside. As well as seeing the man who purchased him leave, N'Diaye's own form has been up and down.

But he has had a greater influence in victories over Newcastle United and Everton in his last two appearances, which has coincided with an upturn in fortunes under Di Canio.

N'Diaye, who many perceive to be more adept at being a defensive midfielder, said: "The new manager does not have the same perception of football as Martin O'Neill.

"He thinks central midfielders need to go and help the forwards, he wants us to go forward more. Because of that I am probably playing a bit more offensively now. I really want to score in England now. I came in January and I'm yet to score: I thought I would have scored more, to be honest.

"I'm feeling good. I think we are playing well at the moment: everyone is playing well. If everybody plays well it is better for me and it is easier for me to produce a good performance."

N'Diaye, who arrived from Turkish club Bursaspor, is confident Sunderland fans will see even more from him next season but knows he has to perform in the final four matches to help preserve Premier League status.

Two wins from three matches under Di Canio have increased the gap to the bottom three to six points ahead of Sunderland's trip to struggling Aston Villa on Monday night.

"I don't think too much about next season yet. At the moment I am just thinking about staying in the Premier League - that is my total focus," said N'Diaye.

"That is the most important thing for the club, we must finish well this season. After that, I will think about next season. If we win on Monday we will be safe. If we win on Monday we're safe: our problems are over. If we win we get towards 40 points and that should be enough."

By the time the Black Cats head to Villa Park the gap could have been closed if third from bottom Wigan avoid defeat to Champions League chasing Tottenham at the DW Stadium tomorrow.

And Villa manager Paul Lambert, who side are three points above the Latics and three shy of 14th-placed Sunderland, has rubbished theories that Di Canio has already got the Wearside outfit clear of danger.

Lambert, who worked under O'Neill at Celtic, said: "A lot can be made of a new manager coming in. You tend to get that little pick-up when somebody else comes in but the way they play, I think we know everything that goes on, and it's up to us to combat that and go and try to win.

"Sunderland made that choice but I know how good a manager Martin O'Neill is because I worked under him for five years. You don't know if it's worked, you have to wait and see, they're still bang in it.

"I think Paolo would say that himself. You can talk about new manager syndrome or whatever but it's the same group of players that were there before.

''I know they played Newcastle and I think anybody in a derby game (can win), it doesn't matter if you're top or bottom, it's a great leveller. They got a result against Everton that was really good the way Everton have been playing but we're at home and the onus is on us to make the running."

In October, Di Canio was forced to deny allegations he taunted Villa fans after his Swindon team lost 3-2 in the Capital One Cup. Villa fans are unlikely to let Di Canio forget. Lambert said: "When you're an opposition manager going somewhere else you tend to expect a bit of stick."