Rangers winger's message to League One club he 'loved playing for' as he heads for Ibrox return

Jordan Jones of Sunderland battles for possession with Morgan Rogers of Lincoln City during the Sky Bet League One Play-off Semi Final 1st Leg match between Lincoln City and Sunderland. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

The Northern Ireland international moved to the Stadium of Light on loan in January but will return to Rangers now his deal has expired.

Lee Johnson is overseeing a significant turnaround in personnel on Wearside after the club fell at the play-off semi-final stage, losing out to Lincoln City who play Blackpool at Wembley on Sunday.

Jones has been allowed to return to Ibrox and has a further year on his deal with Steven Gerrard’s side but first has international commitments having been recalled to Ian Barraclough’s side for matches with Malta on Sunday and Ukraine next week.

But he paid a glowing tribute to his temporary club in an online message to the Black Cats as he departed the north-east of England.

On Twitter he wrote: “Good luck to Sunderland AFC for the future. A massive club which I loved playing for. Thank you for the opportunity and a big thank you to the fans for all the love and support since I arrived. I look forward to seeing the club where it belongs in the future. Thank you.”

Sunderland missed out on automatic promotion, finishing the season in fourth position with Jones playing 21 times and scoring three goals during his loan spell. But his time in League One ended after 70 minutes of the play-off semi-final defeat to Lincoln which City won 2-0 and progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

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