At the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground in Hetton-le-Hole, Co Durham, the wind could be made of metal shards. An audience of 1,032, Roy Keane among them, is shivering as Sunderland's reserve team beat Manchester United and none of those present would mistake the location for the Caribbean. It is the sort of weather that freezes blood.

Carlos Edwards has been warmer. A native of Diego Martin in Trinidad & Tobago, the winger endured a wild and desolate Wednesday night but still sported the smile of a Cheltenham bookmaker. In spite of the bitter conditions, this is what he has not done enough of this season, a time racked by injury, explaining his satisfaction.

The West Indian transplanted to the frozen north; so far, so wrong. Before moving to Wearside for £1.5million in January 2007, Edwards spent two years at Luton Town and, before that, five with Wrexham. He is a veteran of the Army. He has worked towards a tilt at the Barclays Premier League and is not about to concede it willingly.

Two torn hamstrings and a broken leg have restricted the 29-year-old, of whom much was expected, to five appearances over a testing campaign. After an hour against United, he is hoping to be considered for tomorrow's match at home to Chelsea. “I'm hungry and ready to go,” he said. “I want to help us progress and get the points we need. I'll do anything to help the team.”

Such positivity is a product of his background. “I was in the Army for a couple of years,” he said. “I wasn't called up, I took it upon myself to join and it's an experience that I've been able to call upon since, especially in the difficult moments. I'm a military man. It turned me into an independent person. It made me strong mentally, as well as physically.

“They teach you things that mean you're always prepared, always ready and always ten steps ahead of your enemy. Moving into football, I tried to put all that into effect and I try to think a few steps ahead of the opposition.

“Sometimes it doesn't go to plan, but it helps having a mentality that means you're going to try and do things in a positive way. What I do now is a very different aspect of life. How can you compare kicking a ball in the air with using firearms or whatever? But the Army shaped me and it's still in me.”

Only the brave or foolish would dare to suggest that someone so familiar with barked orders and the drill-sergeant regime finds himself at the perfect club. “I guess the manager is often compared to a sergeant-major and he's as tough and disciplined as anybody I worked with in the Army,” Edwards said with a laugh. “He was like that as a player and he still is now. People like that help teach you respect, help you better yourself.”

A relegation battle at Sunderland is unwelcome, but Edwards is not the kind of character to shirk responsibility. “I don't want to make a judgment on the way other people's lives work out,” he said, “but because of the way my career has gone, I appreciate where I am, the progress I've made and what I've got now compared with back then.

“For me, Wrexham was a stepping stone; when you're a baby, you can't run before you walk, and I don't mean that with any disrespect to them. There are many players at this club who have worked their way up the leagues. I don't know whether that gives us more drive or determination to stay here, but what I do know is that it gives an edge to what I'm doing.

“I don't want to go back to the Championship, I don't want to go back down. Maybe in five years, maybe when I'm nearly ready to put my boots up, it would be OK to play there, but I won't let it enter my mind that we're going to get relegated.

“I'm just going to help in any way possible, whether it's on the pitch or off it. I'm going to try my best to keep Sunderland floating in the Premiership.”

Running short

Nicknamed “Roadrunner” by his team-mates because of his blistering pace, the return of Carlos Edwards to the Sunderland side has been more of a marathon than a sprint.

The Trinidad & Tobago international has mustered five appearances in the past eight months, a severe loss.

Roy Keane has been able to select Edwards and Kieran Richardson only once in the same starting XI because of injuries. “That's immensely frustrating because they are two players who give us pace and creativity and you need that in the Premier League,” the manager said. “Carlos has been a big loss on the pitch, but also in the dressing-room, because he's bubbly and confident.”