Sunderland U21s face Burnley in the Premier League Cup final on home soil with Graeme Murty hoping for a big crowd

Graeme Murty has urged Sunderland supporters to get behind the club’s young players as they prepare for their Premier League Cup final against Burnley at the Stadium of Light.

Season ticket holders can attend for free on Thursday at 7pm, while general admission is priced at just £3, with everyone at Sunderland hoping the young lads are backed properly on home soil.

Murty has long spoken about the importance of exposing academy players to proper stadium environments, and believes a strong crowd would give his squad a rare chance to play a meaningful fixture at the Stadium of Light, with silverware on the line and a home crowd behind them. Asked how important a big crowd would be, Murty said: “We’ve been desperate for a big crowd all season.

“The guys have been really, really good. I’ve said for a long time that the major thing that’s missing from U21s football is a crowd, giving an atmosphere, giving that psychological shock to our young players and getting them closer and more prepared for what first-team life looks like. The more we can do that, the closer we can get to that, the better for our players.”

But while development remains the wider aim, Sunderland are not treating the final as a nice day out. Murty has made it clear that his message to the players is simple: go and win. Asked what he will say to his squad before a final like this, Murty said: “It’s got to be about the result. They’ve got to go and win. We’re in a winning business.

“We have to go and win to justify our roles. We have to win to satisfy our fans, but also the players. We would like to inculcate them in a winning habit. We’d love to develop players. We’d love to look at their long-term development. If we can develop winners as well, I think that would be the cherry on the cake.”

Sunderland’s academy has enjoyed another productive campaign, with several young players spending time around the first-team environment and others pushing their way into matchday squads under Régis Le Bris. Murty and his staff have also had to manage the bigger picture of player development, balancing results with the need to prepare players for the demands of senior football. Reaching the final, though, offers something tangible at the end of that work.

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Asked how rewarding the final is for him and his staff, Murty said: “It is, but we really acknowledge that we have to own what we do on a daily basis. We have to actually look at the things that we need to get better at. We need to look at the things where we’ve done particularly well. But I think this is an affirmation of the level of support that our staff are capable of giving to our young players and allowing them the freedom to play, the space to grow.

“It is the realisation that all of the hard work can pay off. It’s only two teams that get to the finals. Lots of teams work extremely hard and do brilliant stuff behind the scenes. The guys really need to go and take and grasp the opportunity with both hands and actually underline what’s been a good season into a really, really high-quality season with tangible rewards at the end of it.”

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