Look, there’s a natural frustration, of course,” said Cirkin. “But for me, I think it’s really not good to make me feel useless, we are still in the same position I bet to take my leave if…

THERE has been no further progress with Dennis Cirkin’s contract situation at Sunderland, but the full-back insists he remains calm over his future.

“We’re still in the same position,” said Cirkin, when asked whether there had been any new developments on the contract front. “But, yeah, I’m still quite relaxed. We’ve still got the rest of the season to play out, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Shortly after that game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Reinildo Mandava returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, and the Mozambique international has quickly reclaimed his place as Le Bris’ first-choice left-back.

Reinildo has started the last five league games, with Cirkin having been an unused substitute in the last three of those matches, but while the former Tottenham trainee admits he would love to be more involved, he understands why Le Bris has settled on the current pecking order.

“Look, there’s a natural frustration, of course,” said Cirkin. “But for me, I think it’s really good to have that competition and someone as good as Reinildo in front of you.

“The last three or four games, I’ve watched him closely, and I think he’s been terrific, so obviously it gives the manager a difficult decision. When the opportunity arises, you just want to take it all in and help the team, really.

“I’m picking up a lot from him. He’s a terrific player, and to have him in front of me only pushes me more. I think the only thing I won’t pick up from him is his shorts and sleeveless T-shirt in training!”

With Premier League safety all but guaranteed with three months of the season still to go, Sunderland can make the FA Cup a key priority in the remainder of the campaign, with Cirkin excited by the prospect of a lengthy run in the competition.

“There’s definitely a feeling we can give it [the FA Cup] a good go, 100 per cent,” he said. “That has definitely been emphasised in our meetings, just to make sure there’s no underestimating what this is and how much of a chance we have this year.

“The emphasis is there, and I think these cup games provide an opportunity for us. Obviously, we want to get to the final, we want to try and win it. And a lot of us lads can do the job and are happy to be getting the opportunities.

“I’m just staying confident, training really hard and trying to do the basics really well. Then when you get an opportunity, you can showcase your abilities.”

Sunday’s win was a hard-fought one, with Sunderland’s players overcoming the challenges of a difficult Kassam Stadium pitch and a physically-imposing Oxford side to reach the fifth round.

“We looked back to the last game [against Oxford], at the end of last season, and we knew straight away what was coming,” said Cirkin. “The direct ball, the aggressiveness, the crowd getting on their side. We knew that, and we tried to communicate that to the other players and make them aware.

“I thought we matched their energy and aggressiveness. With the weather and everything, it was a proper Championship game really, which I’ve kind of missed, personally! But yeah, it was nice to come and get the win.”