Phil Parkinson reveals how he rewarded Sunderland's youngsters for beating Newcastle United
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The Black Cats’ second string sealed a first victory in over 600 days last week as they beat the Magpies 4-0 away from home.
And Parkinson was quick to reward some of the star performers in the ‘big victory’ by allowing them to train with Sunderland’s first-team squad late last week.
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Hide AdParkinson has regularly afforded younger players a chance to train with his senior side during his tenure, with Oliver Younger one of the more recent beneficiaries.
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And that policy looks unlikely to stop any time soon, with the Sunderland boss reminding young players that the opportunity for them is there – as long as they seize it.
"I was very pleased the under-23s beat Newcastle on Monday,” he said, speaking to safc.com.
"That was a big victory for the club – not just because it’s Newcastle – but because everyone knows we’ve struggled to get results at that level.
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Hide Ad"We’ve tried to strengthen the team up and that [result] gave everybody a spring in their step at the academy when we came back in on Thursday.
"The players who did well in that game, a few of them trained with the first-team and I think that crossover is really important.
"We want the players in that group to push into the first-team squad and if they play well and perform well and train well when they come over with us, they’ve got a chance to stay there.”
Sunderland’s under-23 side face Sheffield United at the Academy of Light this afternoon.