David Meyler

Meyler joined Sunderland on 25 July 2008 for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £250,000 which has risen close to £500,000 after appearances and his first Republic of Ireland senior call-up. [ citation needed ] He became their third summer signing and followed the footsteps of former Cork City teammate Roy O'Donovan by moving to the Stadium of Light . [ 10 ] However, it was not until a year and a half after joining Sunderland that Meyler made his first professional appearance for the club, starting against Blackburn Rovers on 28 December 2009. In his third appearance for Sunderland, at Portsmouth on 9 February 2010, Meyler received a straight red card just minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. He suffered serious cruciate ligament damage against Manchester United on 2 May 2010, that was feared would leave him sidelined for as long as 12 months. [ 11 ] However, he made a quicker recovery than expected, making his comeback for Sunderland's Reserves against Liverpool Reserves, on 2 November 2010. Manager Steve Bruce insisted Meyler would not be rushed back to first team action. [ 12 ] Surprisingly, he returned in an away match at Fulham, featuring for 52 minutes in a 0–0 draw. On 5 January 2011, Meyler pulled up suddenly and was stretchered off in Sunderland's away match at Aston Villa . After the game, Bruce revealed that Meyler suffered cruciate ligament damage to the same knee as before. Later, Sunderland announced that Meyler had a scan on the knee and had torn his medial ligament. [ citation needed ] This ruled Meyler out for another 10 weeks at least rather than 6 months which was first feared. Meyler returned to the Sunderland bench for their defeat at Birmingham City on 16 April 2011. [ citation needed ] Meyler continued to be eased back to fitness by Sunderland in the 2011–12 season, playing in several reserve fixtures before making a cameo substitute appearance in the 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on 1 October 2011. He also came on a — Wikipedia