Sunderland midfielder Ethan Robson has won the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for August.
The 19-year-old has featured prominently for the club’s under-23s during the early stages of the season, playing a starring role as Andy Welsh’s side made an unbeaten start to the campaign.
Robson’s standout moment came at the King Power Stadium as his late free-kick snatched a 3-2 win, with the Black Cats twice coming from behind against a highly-rated Leicester City outfit.
The midfielder was also named on the bench for the first-team’s EFL Cup victory over Shrewsbury Town, but speaking to safc.com he admitted the award caught him somewhat off-guard.
“I was buzzing when I heard the news about the award because I feel like it’s a great stepping stone to build from.
“I’ve had a good start to the season but that’s done now so it’s time to push on and improve, but it was a nice surprise and I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
He added: “I think the free-kick at Leicester might have sealed it after it went viral!”
Robson isn’t the first member of Sunderland’s academy to be recognised for their contribution at this level, with Duncan Watmore, Lynden Gooch and Rees Greenwood all picking up the accolade in the past 12 months.
And under-23 boss Andy Welsh was full of praise for the club’s latest standout performer.
“Ethan has been excellent.
“He’s come back in and been in fine form and he’s in excellent shape physically, so he’s looked after himself during the summer and the intensity of playing and training with the first team in pre-season has given him a timely boost.”
He continued: “Ethan thoroughly deserves the award and he’s caught the eye of a number of people which is brilliant.
“Now he needs to keep the intensity in his game, keep that determination and see where it takes him.”
