Sunderland players baffled by Kernan

Aaron Kernan said the vast majority of the Sunderland players he encountered couldn’t understand why he put so much into an amateur sports career.

As part of AIB’s The Toughest Trade documentary to be screened on TV3 at 10pm tonight, the former Armagh footballer spent five days with the Premier League club.

Apart from Republic of Ireland international John O’Shea, only one of their U21 players who had come from a non-league side could appreciate Kernan’s background. He found difference in motivations were staggering.