Recently-released defender set to sign for Championship club - but Sunderland turned him down

Recently-released Billy Jones is set to sign a contract with Championship club Rotherham United, according to former Sky Sports reporter Peter O’Rourke.

The 31-year old right back ended a four-year stay at Sunderland this summer upon the expiration of his contract, and in truth nobody was really sad to see him go.

Jones was never really a massive problem at Sunderland and always came across as decent and professional, but more often than not he struggled to impress both in the Premier League and the Championship due to his lack of pace and positional awareness.

It’s thought that, before he left Sunderland, Jones had offered to stay on with reduced terms and wages but that the interest wasn’t reciprocated, and that the club decided to move on.

One of the more experienced campaigners in the Sunderland side in recent years, Jones was often asked to play in a number of positions across the defence - and even captained the side on occasion.

But with Sunderland needing an almighty clear-out this summer, there was no interest in retaining Jones’ services and, instead, he was allowed to move on and find a new club.

Recently-promoted Rotherham are a good fit for Jones, and whilst his injury record over the entirety of his stay with Sunderland was questionable he will certainly add experience to a relatively young Millers squad.