GEORGE HONEYMAN has described his relief at the prospect of captaining Sunderland at Wembley, despite having to endure a three-match ban that could not have come at a more “horrible” time for the midfielder.

Honeyman still has another game to serve of his suspension for the red card he received for his part in the touchline brawl at Wycombe ten days ago.

His attempts to have the decision overturned were quashed last week, so he had to miss the draw at Barnsley and the victory over Walsall in League One, and he will also miss the trip to Accrington on Tuesday, April 2.

But a clarification of rules means Honeyman will be allowed to play in the Checktrade Trophy final on Sunday, March 31, because his ban only takes in league games.

Honeyman said: “It was a bit of a surreal moment, in the changing room by myself. It was five minutes later that I actually calmed down and started to think about the consequences. I couldn’t have picked what I thought was going to be the next three games.

“Barnsley, arguably the biggest game of the season so far. Walsall, my mum’s birthday so she was bringing a group of friends over to the game. Then Wembley.

“It’s done now. The relief that I can play at Wembley, I’m extremely lucky at how it has worked out and I can’t wait to try and take the opportunity.

“On the bus, I’d heard that I might be able to play. The next 48 hours were horrible, I didn’t know what games what I was going to miss, how the appeal would go etc.

“You just don’t know where you’re at, I just wanted to know what was going to happen and if it was the worst possible news then at least I could start to get my head round it.”

Even though Honeyman is delighted to be available for the EFL showpiece in front of a sell-out 80,000 crowd at Wembley, that has not eased the frustration of missing three important games.

Honeyman was sent off by referee Lee Swabey at Wycombe when he tried to prevent midfielder Nathan Tyson from holding on to the ball. In the end both men were dismissed.

It was a hotly-contested affair at Adams Park and also saw a number of crunching challenges, a strong atmosphere and the sending off of Wycombe’s Marcus Bean for a foul on Duncan Watmore, which left the Sunderland man with ankle ligament damage.

While admitting he might have overstepped the mark, Honeyman insists he would do it again if his team faced similar circumstances.

Honeyman said: “It would have been a really tough pill to swallow, I’m very lucky not to miss Wembley.

“It was a battle and Wycombe had a gameplan to frustrate us. The ball came out of play, our kitman has gone to get the ball and their assistant manager has kicked it out of his hands. That’s when I’ve ran in. Rightly or wrongly, I wish I’d never got sent off but if someone goes for one of us, it’s my personality.

“I wouldn’t say it is right or wrong, that’s just how I am and how we are as a team.”

Whatever the view is on whether the incident should have happened, it did show a team spirit that has ensured Sunderland are unbeaten since December; form which has them sitting third in League One behind Barnsley and Luton.

By the time Sunderland travel to Accrington, the two point gap to second place could have been widened considerably but Jack Ross’ side will have three games in hand.

“I think we’re exactly where we need to be,” said Honeyman. “I know we’re expected to be getting record points, to have won the league by a country mile, but that’s not how it was ever going to be.

“After the few years that we’ve had at the club, we couldn’t win in a home game in a calendar year just about. Now we’ve gone unbeaten at home all season so far, in any league that’s tough to do. Everyone can’t wait to play against us, it’s a battle every week and I think we’ve coped with it well as a club. Now it’s about finishing it well. I’ve got no doubts that we will, the mindset is really good.”