Alex Neil on the 'unbelievable' team spirit driving Sunderland's recent success

The young midfielder was told quickly and in no uncertain terms to move on and look forward. We've all been there, it happens, it's done.

For the Sunderland head coach it summed up both the importance of his senior players and the spirit he has in the dressing room.

Describing it as 'unbelievable', he said it's something you come across rarely in your career.

"There are very few times in your career as a player where you can honestly look around and find yourself in a selfless changing room," he said.

"I played for 14 years and maybe it only happens for three or four years in that length of career, say, or maybe if you are extremely fortunate and land somewhere that is on the up for a length of time, a few more years.

"But you need that selfless changing room where guys who aren't starting are there for the team and there for the group and everyone is pulling in the same direction.

"That doesn't happen on a regular basis, it is really, really, difficult because football is a really selfish game, isn't it?

"When you look at the riches attached to football, everybody wants their bit.

"So to try and create a selfless culture where everyone is doing their bit for the betterment of the team, rather than the betterment of themselves, that's hard.

"But, thankfully for us, we have got that and it's something we hold really dearly and we don't want to dilute it in any way, shape, or form, through recruitment, through behaviours, through any of that sort of stuff.

"We set the standards, but it's driven by the players."

Key to that balance is not just the experience of players like Bailey Wright and Corry Evans, but the tight-knit group of academy youngsters who have broken into the first-team group.

"The club has arguably been guilty in the past of trying cherry-pick players, putting them together, and expecting the team spirit to cultivate," Neil said.

"That's extremely difficult to do.

"If you look at the best teams, the Arsenals, the Chelseas, Manchester United over the years, they've had guys coming through the youth academy that understand and know the club, and they feel responsible for everything that happens on and off the pitch.

"That's what we've got, and the club deserves credit for that.

"What we're trying to do is bring young lads through, and get as many academy lads in as we can.

"But at the same time, if they are not capable they won't be in the team.

"They don't get any free passes because they are a young kid and they are from Sunderland - that's not how it works.

"But if they are capable and they have the determination, the best interests of the club at heart, then I think that's what you see from our team at the moment.

"It's great for me, and it's a great environment to come into.

"The balance of the squad at the moment, albeit we want to recruit and strengthen, is tops at the moment."