Duncan Watmore is refusing to rest on his laurels ahead of the 2016-17 Premier League campaign.
Relatively unknown one year ago, the Sunderland youngster had a blistering campaign netting on his Premier League and Capital One Cup debuts before cementing his place as an England under-21 regular.
An injury could have scuppered his progress and impact during the closing stages of the season, but he returned in style to play a pivotal role in the club’s 3-0 win over Norwich City and their eventual survival.
But Watmore is far from done, insisting he wants to become a better player and have a bigger impact when the new season gets underway.
“Part of pre-season is working hard because the start of the campaign is important for us,” said Watmore. “We haven’t been as good as we should’ve been in recent years and the manager has been very clear on that, so we know the work we have to do and the staff have put together a really good pre-season for us.
“All the players have taken to it perfectly and they’re getting on with the work because if you don’t put in the hard work you won’t get the benefits, so it’s something you have to enjoy and embrace which is what we’re doing at the moment so its good fun.”
He continued: “I really enjoyed last season, especially the way we stayed up at the end, but I’m hoping to build on that this year and I won’t get carried away because I have a lot of work to do on my game.
“One thing I do have is the right coaches, the right facilities and the right players to learn from, so as far as I’m concerned I’m going to keep pushing myself to see what I can achieve and become a better player.”
