It has been quite a season already for Sunderland under-18s.
Having secured progression to the quarter-finals of the Premier League Cup, Mark Atkinson’s side have also turned a corner in their league season.
On top of that, Benji Kimpioka’s hot streak in front of goal earned him a call-up into the under-23s mix, along with Lee Connelly, Jack Diamond and Jake Hackett.
The quartet have even trained with Chris Coleman’s first-team as former youth team players Ethan Robson and Elliot Embleton made their senior debuts, before Josh Maja marked his first league appearance with a goal last month.
Mark, thanks for your time, how would you sum up the first part of the season?
MA: “It has been a really positive first-half of the season. I would possibly say the lads have overachieved in terms of what they expected as a group. The performances have been positive, of course there have been some ups and downs. Since the Everton game the lads have been a lot more consistent with their performances. That has meant the results have taken care of themselves. As individuals they have made good improvements. That is our main aim and the success has been seeing some of the lads play for the under-23s. That is as much of a success as it is winning games. That has to be our aim after Christmas as well to try and get more players into the under-23s.”
Where do you stand when it comes to player development at youth team level? Are results important to you or are you more focused on player development?
MA: “In the under-18s and under-23s getting results does become more important because that’s what you are ultimately judged on in the first team. The lads are getting closer to the environment in the first team and they need to know that. They need to learn how to win games and see games out – that is part of their development of where they are at now. We always say - and we strongly believe as a group of staff – that if we take care of our performances and do what we need to do then the results will happen for us and since the Everton match that is what they have done. It has been through a lot of hard work from the players on the training ground. I have learned an awful lot from the Everton game and the reaction to it has been really positive.”
Focusing on the Everton match it is a game that seems to hold a certain significance in the season so far…
MA: “Even before the Everton match there were some positive performances, but we were a little bit up and down. The Everton match was probably the low part of the last few months, since then they have grown as individuals and matured a lot as a group. Sometimes games like that are a bit of a blessing in disguise and it is a bit of a reality check.”
