Sunderland under-18s head to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday looking to build on their point last time out.
Ryan Leonard’s injury-time penalty secured a share of the spoils at Stoke City in a game that had many twists and turns.
Sonny Best had given Paul Bryson’s side the advantage at Clayton Wood Training Centre, but two goals from the Potters turned the game on its head.
With their second coming in the 84th minute it looked as though the hosts were on course to secure all the points, but Leonard had other ideas as he drove into the box.
The pacey winger was clipped and sent tumbling, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a spot kick - something Leonard seized to snatch a deserved point at the death.
This Saturday provides another big challenge for Bryson’s side, who have drawn their last four league matches.
Rovers sit eighth in the U18 Premier League but have lost five of their last seven matches in all competitions – a run which includes a hefty 7-2 defeat at Liverpool at the start of March.
They’ve also conceded 13 goals in their last four games, with another heavy 4-0 loss coming at Everton at the start of February.
Speaking ahead of the match, safc.com caught up with youth team boss Paul Bryson, and here’s what he had to say…
“It is challenging because we’ve changed things a lot recently. Last weekend we had young Logan Pye playing and there’s not many under-15s who play regular under-18 football. We ended up on Saturday with three players who were from the under-16s/15s. The likes of Bali (Mumba), Dan (Neil), Cole (Kiernan) and Andrias (Edmundsson), have been missing a lot this season and that’s pretty much the spine of the team. It’s the guts of the team. It’s been difficult. Of course, it’s great for the other players to step in and that’s the way it should be. If we can push the other ones through too then that’s the way it should be.”
