Sunderland Out-on-loan Star ‘Absolute Testament’ To Black Cats Says Club Boss | OneFootball

Pete Norton/Getty Images

Cambridge United boss Neil Harris has admitted that Sunderland loanee Nathan Bishop’s willingness to play through injury is a testament to the club he represents.

Bishop spent three years on Manchester United’s books after the Premier League giants picked him up from Southend United and he played a handful of games for their academy.

Sunderland signed the former England youth international in the summer of 2023, but he has featured only twice for the senior team and spent the first half of this season at Wycombe Wanderers, where he played in only two League One games.

League One strugglers Cambridge United loaned him in January and he has played 12 games for them already, but he picked up an ankle injury in the U’s 2-2 draw against Wrexham.

Bishop did not feature in their 1-0 win against Shrewsbury Town, but Harris revealed that the shot-stopper does not think much about the long-term and he wants to play on Saturday against Charlton Athletic.

The U’s boss hailed the shot-stopper’s elite mentality, which he insisted reflects well on the player himself and also his parent club, Sunderland.

“He is the one who knocks on my door and wants to play”, Harris told CUFC TV (0:53) about the Sunderland on-loan goalkeeper.

“In a real loveable way, he is not thinking about next week or next season, he is just thinking about Saturday, ‘I just want to play football.’

“Which I think is brilliant, an absolute testament to him as a person and the football club he represents that they are happy for him to push himself, I wish I could find a better phrase, but put his neck on the line.

“It is me who is saying to him that let us get a look at that properly, let us be careful.

“But he is a real good lad and he is really pushing [to play].”

Bishop’s availability for Saturday’s League One clash against the Addicks is still not clear, but he will look to push and start the game.

The 25-year-old custodian’s contract the the Black Cats ends at the end of next season and it remains to be seen what Sunderland have planned for him when he returns to the club in the summer.