Joel Asoro is refusing to get carried away after making his Premier League debut in Sunday's Wear-Tees derby.
Just 17, the Swedish striker became the youngest player to represent Sunderland in the Premier League when he replaced Duncan Watmore with 81 minutes played at the Stadium of Light.
Unfortunately, the Black Cats were unable to claw back the two-goal deficit established by Boro during the opening period, with Patrick van Aanholt’s strike providing to be little more than a consolation.
And although Asoro was delighted to reach a milestone he’d often dreamed about, he insisted the hard work is far from over as he aims to continue learning from David Moyes and his experienced team-mates.
“I was very pleased and I didn’t expect to come on but when the manager gave me the call I just tried to do my best,” said Asoro. “He looked over and waved me back and I was thinking ‘what, me?’, so I ran as quickly as I could back to the bench and got my shirt on.
“It meant so much to make my debut in front of the home crowd because everyone was screaming and the atmosphere was amazing, so I was very grateful.”
He continued: “The last month has gone so quickly and I thought that if I kept training with the first team I might get a chance at the end of the season, so I was very surprised to play and I’ve just tried to listen to all the advice the manager’s given me.
“He's talked to me a lot and I’ve learnt a lot since he’s come in, and it’s also been a great experience training with Jermain [Defoe] who keeps telling me to work hard.
“I just need to be ready and keep working on the training pitch, taking any opportunities that come my way in my stride.
“The day I played was yesterday and yesterday is not today, so I need to work harder because I’m far from done and I want this to be the start of something rather than the end.”
