Mark Atkinson has echoed the words of Elliott Dickman as he prepares his side to be without a host of second-year scholars for the remainder of the season.
Sunderland under-18s face an away trip to Derby County this weekend as they look to respond to last Saturday’s defeat at home to title hopefuls Manchester United.
Having had Jake Hackett and Benji Kimpioka at their disposal for much of the season, Atkinson has revealed he is ready for them to step up to the under-23s team as they look to continue their development.
“They are there on merit and they are in the team on merit,” he said.
“That opens up the door for other players to come in and stake their claim.
“Our plan going forward now is there will be a day release on a Tuesday for the under-16s so they will train with the youth team.
“It is all about blooding them in so they have got an idea of what to expect next season.
“What it does is it speeds up their progression,” he continued. “You probably won’t see that at the start but in the long term it should stand them in good stead.
“Last season was tough at the start because we had a lot of first years playing regularly but if you look at it now, Jack Diamond, Jake Hackett and Benji Kimpioka have all played with the under-23s.
“But also for others, it has developed them as players. They have had to take the rough bits to start with, the knocks and the bloody noses but now we are seeing the benefits.”