Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia is adamant he has not held showdown talks with Dwight Yorke.
Black Cats boss insists there is no club versus country row
Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia is adamant he has not held showdown talks with Dwight Yorke amidst rumours the duo have suffered a bust-up.
Reports suggested the Trinidad & Tobago captain had angered his club boss after expressing a desire to return to the Caribbean to offer his country moral support.
Yorke was sent off in his last international outing and is therefore suspended for Trinidad & Tobago's next match, against Honduras on 28th March, but he is still thought to be keen to attend the fixture in Port of Spain.
Speculation implied the veteran's decision to put country before club had angered Sbragia, who is fighting a Premier League relegation battle, but the Black Cats chief insists the conjecture is wide of the mark.
He told the
Sunderland Echo: "I'll be honest, I didn't read about it until yesterday and it was news to me!
Desire
"There have been no big discussions or fall-out over it. Personally, I think he should continue his international career.
"I have no problem with that and I don't mind us fitting around it.
"Obviously Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards are in the same position in terms of having an involvement in internationals during the middle of the season and we are prepared to work around them.
"We have to deal with these things and I've got to say that, from my point of view, we are pleased that at this stage of his career, he still has that desire and motivation to be involved internationally and to contribute what he can.
"I don't have a problem with it - there's no bigger honour than playing for your country. We've never fallen out about it: we've never spoken about it.
"And when I read about it in the morning, I thought good on him, he's 30-odd, why not continue it as long as he can?"
