David Meyler is hoping for a full preseason at Sunderland.

The midfielder feels he's over his knee problems.

Meyler, who joined Sunderland from Cork City in 2008, told the Sunderland Echo: "I haven't had a proper pre-season in four years, since the first one I signed for Sunderland.

"Even when Steve Bruce took over, his first pre-season I got injured through it - hurt my ankle in a tackle.

"It is so hard to play catch up if you miss it.

"When you come back from an injury, you start running, then you join in with the reserves. That's tough and then it's even tougher when you join in with the first team.

"It's harder again when you get to a reserve-team game and the pinnacle of the lot is a Premier League game.

"Lots of players struggle there, never mind if you've been out eight or nine months.

"To come back and reach that level of fitness and to be able to compete in a game of that calibre is tough."