Joel Asoro and Josh Maja are having an infectious impact at first-team level and it’s paving the way for further youngsters to step up and be counted, according to Chris Coleman.
The duo have been on fans’ radars for years with their impressive performances catching the eye at under-18 and under-23 level, but despite the hype both forwards are just 18.
That hasn’t stopped them mixing it with the big boys, though, with Maja taking pre-season by storm before a knee injury cruelly cut short his involvement, as Asoro quietly went about is business before exploding back onto the scene under Coleman.
The Sweden under-21 international impressed during a brief cameo at Villa Park before providing a blistering assist at Burton Albion in Sunderland’s first Sky Bet Championship win since August.
And Coleman has urged the duo to continue to ramp under the pressure on their first-team counterparts.
“Young Joel Asoro has done very, very well and he’s looked exciting,” said the Sunderland boss.
“It’s a bit different for Maja because he’s coming back from injury, but from what I’ve seen from him he looks promising and some of the other ones are also staking a claim.”
He added: “That’s good because it pushes the other players that have been here for a while because what you don’t want, and what you can’t have, is comfort.
“Comfort is death in sport, in football, so you need to look at who wants to be in that comfort zone and eradicate them and keep them away from the people who want to progress, work hard and be accountable.
“Hopefully they all want to buy into it and I hope that’s the case because they’ll all get the chance, but maybe one or two don’t and if that happens it’s up to us that they’re removed and we bring in the type of characters this football club deserves.
“It’s as simple as that.”
Both Asoro and Maja will be hoping to feature when Sunderland entertain Reading on Saturday, with the latter hoping to get back on track after a spell on the sidelines.
“Of course,” said Coleman when asked if James Vaughan’s suspension could lead to Maja’s return or hand a further opportunity to the Swede.
“They’re young – very young – but they’ve got promise and they’ve got potential, and they’ve also got all this excitement because they’ve not been professional footballers for too long and they’re not seasoned pros.”
He continued: “With that, you get a little vibe from them when you include them and I always do that because it’s nice to inject something different.
“Sometimes you get these bright-eyed young boys and it lifts everything, but you have to be careful and you can’t overcook it and allow them to be too overexposed.”