DeAndre Yedlin says he has improved as a defender under Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce this season.
Yedlin joined the Black Cats on a season-long loan deal from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and has made 18 appearances in all competitions, starting 14 league games.
The 22-year-old plays as winger under United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann but he has primarily been used as a right-back by Allardyce and his predecessor Dick Advocaat.
The former Seattle Sounders player, who made just one appearance for Tottenham after joining in January 2015 -- a brief cameo in the defeat to Aston Villa -- after joining in January 2015, has been praised for his attacking instincts but feels he has made huge strides at the other end of the pitch under Allardyce.
"It's something that I wanted to work on, especially coming into the Premier League," Yedlin told The Sunderland Echo. "I felt that was the area of my game that needed the most improvement and the gaffer has really helped me with that, as have the players alongside me.
"He's just made me more aware positionally. Positional awareness comes with experience, so getting game time helps, but we also work a lot in training as a back line and also on defensive shape.
"Before, sometimes if the ball was played over my head I wouldn't know where I was. Like against Arsenal [December's 3-1 defeat] when [Joel] Campbell got in behind me, but now I feel a lot more comfortable.
"Before, sometimes I would be going forward when it really wasn't the right time to go too. Now I'm picking my times better, and that's helping me defensively."
Yedlin faces battle to leapfrog Spurs' current right-backs Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier during preseason, while 18-year-old Kyle Walker-Peters was recently included on the bench by Mauricio Pochettino, suggesting he is highly rated at White Hart Lane.
The U.S. international can do his parent club a huge favour this weekend when Sunderland host league leaders Leicester, who are seven points clear of Spurs in the race for the title, but is focused solely on the Black Cats, saying: "We have to focus on ourselves right now because we have to get out of trouble."