'I've surprised myself' - Ballard on Premier League step-up

Sunderland defender Dan Ballard admits he had "doubts" that he would be able to step up to the Premier League, saying he has been "surprised" by his and the Black Cats' start to life back in the top flight.

The 26-year-old has played in 17 of Sunderland's 21 league games, scoring twice - including a memorable goal against former club Arsenal in a 2-2 draw.

He has helped Regis Le Bris' side stay well clear of the bottom three in 10th in the table and is glad that his pre-season graft has helped him keep his place in the team despite the arrivals of defenders such as Omar Alderete and Nordi Mukiele.

"I probably surprised myself with how well we've done in the Premier League, remaining in the team and doing well has been an added bonus," he told BBC Sport NI's Thomas Kane.

"There's always doubt when you play in a new league. The step up to the Premier League, you know how tough it can be.

"Certain players struggled in the past, we signed a lot of players, there's lots of competition and it might not have worked out, but I was really determined in pre-season and wanting to show the manager, the team and the fans I can play in this league and I think I've done that so far."

Ballard scored a dramatic injury-time winner against Coventry City in the play-off semi-final before Sunderland beat Sheffield United in the final at Wembley last year to earn promotion to the Premier League.

The Black Cats' fantastic start to their first top flight campaign since 2017 means they are now just 10 points away from the 40-point mark, which should almost guarantee their top-flight status for another year.

Ballard, who at times "did not think I would play in the Premier League" when he left Arsenal, says safety still has to be the club's immediate aim before they start to look further ahead.

"Our goal is to stay in the division, we have not achieved that yet so I think we're trying to get there as quickly as possible," he added.

"We've got through a really busy Christmas period and we have some good points on the board, but we have a full half of the season to go so we're trying to reset and get back to what we're really strong at and hopefully we can achieve staying in the league as early as possible and who knows from there."

As well as enjoying the rest of the Premier League season with Sunderland, Ballard is preparing for a World Cup play-off against Italy with Northern Ireland.

Michael O'Neill's side will be without influential right back Conor Bradley for the game in Bergamo following his season-ending knee injury with goalkeeper Pierce Charles also a doubt.

While Ballard, who has won 33 caps for his country, acknowledges that NI are huge underdogs, he believes their performances in their two defeats against Germany last year will give his side belief they can navigate the play-offs and reach a first World Cup since 1982.

"It's an exciting opportunity, I can't think over the last three or four years of an opportunity this big [to qualify for a major tournament]. We've given ourselves a lot of confidence from our performances against Germany that we can mix it with the big nations," he said.

"There's no real pressure on us, we're going away to a really tough opponent, but we can go without fear and enjoy.

"The pressure will be on them and we know how difficult we can make games for the big nations."