FORMER Sunderland stalwart Michael Gray is settling comfortably back into Premiership life - and it's Newcastle United fans that have made him feel at home!

The Toon Army booed and jeered Gray's every touch of the ball for Blackburn during the 1-1 draw at Ewood Park on Wednesday night. After all, it's going to take Geordies a lot longer than the three weeks he's been at Ewood Park to make them forget the decade he spent as an arch enemy on the other side of the Tyne.

But it wasn't just rekindling the rivalry of his native north east that made the left back feel he was back where he belonged - because the Magpies fans' abuse made him feel like a Premiership player again.

"They don't boo bad players, do they?" was Gray's response. "That's one way of looking at it.

"I got it at Middlesbrough last week so you've just to get your head down and get on with it."

There's no reason why anyone should think Gray's self-confidence is mis-placed.

The former England left back, who won three caps in 1999, has clearly been itching to return to the summit of the English game.

And he's wasted no time in reminding Premiership audiences of his liking for switching from left back to left wing with equal effect.

And he's also made a seamless transition in springing back up from Division One in the January transfer window.

Gray said: "I'm the type of person who looks after themselves and I'm a fit lad. But at this level it's just a matter of getting in there and going with the adrenalin rush you get when you play in the Premiership.

"I've had two games at Ewood and the fans have been great with me. That's really pleasing, and we had a great performance at Middlesbrough so I'm enjoying my football at the moment.

"I hope it continues right the way throughout the season and in seasons to come."

It's perhaps disappointing then that Gray and his team-mates have had a 10-day gap without a match following the promising performances against Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

Gray added: "We want to keep on a little roll so it's a bit unfortunate that the break has come but I suppose it gives you a chance to recuperate and get a few lads back from injuries.

"The worst thing is if you lose a game and have to wait two weeks until the next game but we put in a good performance and we can take that into the next one."

One wouldn't blame Gray if the spectre of last year's relegation was still hanging over his head following the harrowing experience at his hometown club.

He suffered his second Premiership relegation with Sunderland, but it was by far the more embarrassing as they trickled to just 19 points, the Premiership's worst ever total.

But the former Stadium Of Light skipper has put those dark days behind him, even if he's plunged himself back into another survival fight at Ewood.

However, Gray has seen enough in the trio of games he has played so far to convince him the word relegation isn't even in the vocabulary.

"Nobody here speaks about that and we shouldn't speak about it," he said.

"The quality you see in the squad means it's only a matter of time before we start shooting up the table

"All the lads are digging in because we know what we've got to do. Like against Newcastle the other night, the way we played it would have been a travesty if we hadn't got something out of the game.

"So the word 'relegation' hasn't even been mentioned once since I came to the club."