Elliott Dickman has called for his youth team to take inspiration from Sunderland’s second-year scholars who have made the step up earlier than usual.
After a frustrating opening day defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, a solid week of training has meant spirits are high ahead of their first home match in the U18 Premier League.
Keen for a reaction from his side, Dickman told safc.com his squad should take note of the achievements of Josh Maja, Elliot Embleton and Joel Asoro who are all training around the first-team squad.
“We have learnt a bit about how to deal with the setback but hopefully we are in a better position this weekend to deal with it,” he said.
“We want to be competitive, we want to be successful but at the same time we want to make sure the players are improving and that they are getting out of the programme what they need to from an individual point of view.
“Embleton, Asoro and Maja are the players the lads need to look up to in respects because they have been around the first team and the under-23s,” he continued.
“To me that is winning and that is successful just as much as trying to get three points on a Saturday.”
