With Iceland on the horizon for Sunderland under-16s this week, academy coach Paul Bryson chats to Sam Lightle about what he expects from the Rey Cup.
The five-day tournament...
It is a very good tournament for us to be involved in, especially so early in our season. The other British teams involved in it are Burnley, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fleetwood Town and Partick Thirstle so it will be a good test for our boys. It is a tournament predominantly for players born in 2001 and that would’ve been great for us but we have just had Sam Greenwood called up to England and Jack Newman and Liam Miller for Scotland. We are going to be without those three but it gives a few other faces the chance to step into the under-16s squad.
Plenty to stew over…
Yes, it is. The lads are all looking forward to it and we are keen to build on what has been a productive few weeks for our players. Our first friendly against Carlisle went well, we won comfortably 5-0 and we did well all over the park. We then played an under-17s side and they were a lot more physical but it was a good challenge and we drew 3-3. Since then, we have had two disappointing results against Barnsley and Preston so we will certainly need to improve going into this tournament.
Focused on player development…
Development and player progression is always top of our agenda. We would like one or two to push their way through - that must be our aim. I would like to see Bali Mumba and Sam Greenwood regularly training and playing with the under-18s. Of course, that depends on how well they are doing. We have got Dan Neil who is returning from a long-term injury and he should be back around the October/November mark. That is exciting because he has shown a fantastic attitude throughout his recovery with Louis Cunningham who has done a fantastic job over the past year. Most importantly, though, we want our under-16s to add a level of consistency to their game that will earn them a scholarship.