Martyn Waghorn is determined to establish himself as a Premier League player with Sunderland.

The 20-year-old made a huge impact on loan at Leicester City last season and has attracted interest from a number of clubs over the summer.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is adamant Waghorn is going nowhere – and the player himself has set his sights on becoming a first-team regular.

Waghorn returns to the Walkers Stadium tomorrow when Sunderland provide the opposition for City's last pre-season friendly.

Bruce is expected to field a strong line-up but much of the attention will be focused on a man who was key to City's impressive play-off finish last May.

It may be the only glimpse they get of him this season because Waghorn aims to seize his opportunity with the club he joined as an eight-year-old.

"I don't want to go out on loan," he told the Sunderland Echo. "I'm going to get my head down and I'm going to do everything I can to stay at Sunderland.

"I want to play for this club and I want to play in the Premiership. I've got a chance to and it's up to me. I'm really going for it.

"I had a really good time at Leicester, I enjoyed it, but I'm really happy to be back at Sunderland and, hopefully, cement a place in the first-team squad.

"I've matured loads as a person and a player at Leicester. It was definitely what I needed at that stage of my career. I've learned so much from playing regularly. The year was vital for me but the aim was always to bring that back with me to Sunderland."

Waghorn has featured prominently in the Black Cats' pre-season programme, where he has played in all but one game.

It began with a 2-1 victory over a Munster Xl with Waghorn scoring both goals after going on as a second-half substitute. Unfortunately, he was stretchered off and missed the next fixture, a 1-0 win over Darlington.

Sunderland yesterday returned from a three-game sequence in Portugal where they drew 1-1 with Brighton, beat Nigel Pearson's Hull City 4-2 and lost 2-0 to Benfica, Waghorn playing a part in all of them.

It is expected Waghorn will start at the Walkers Stadium tomorrow. Sunderland have only three main-line strikers in Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones and Fraizer Campbell and two of them are struggling with injury.

Bent sat out the Benfica game with niggles, while Jones departed the action in the first half with a knee problem.

At present, Bruce is searching to add to his attack and there is talk of Danny Welbeck stepping in on loan from Manchester United. That, if at all, will not materialise until next week, giving Waghorn another opportunity to impress tomorrow.

"It is nice to have a manager in Steve Bruce who is willing to give youngsters a chance," he said. "He isn't afraid to throw you in there if he thinks you are good enough.

"It's been a challenge coming back to Sunderland and I've really enjoyed it. I've scored a couple of goals in pre-season and been over in Portugal working hard and I had three good games.

"I'm part of the squad and, hopefully, I've made a good impression so far."

Definitely missing from the Sunderland line-up tomorrow will be goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who broke an arm earlier this month, and defender George McCartney, who was injured in Portugal.

New players hoping to make an impact include Titus Bramble, a £1million capture from Wigan this week, Argentina full-back Marcos Angeleri and Eyptian right-winger Ahmed Al-Muhammadi.

In addition, Sunderland have players with vast Premier League experience such as Bolo Zenden, Steed Malbranque and Anton Ferdinand.

Sunderland have one more friendly after tomorrow, against 1899 Hoffenheim a week on Sunday before their Premier League campaign kicks off with Birmingham visiting the Stadium of Light on August 14.