Harrison Jones addressed Sunderland fans after making his first Championship start against Swansea City

Sunderland youngster Harrison Jones has delivered a thank you to Black Cats fans after their reception towards him against Swansea City.

The Academy of Light graduate was handed a first league start by Régis Le Bris against the Swans in the Championship at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and was given a warm reception by Sunderland fans. Jones, a boyhood supporter, has played five times for the senior team this campaign, including three in the league and two in cup competitions.

Sunderland would go on to lose the game against Swansea City after Ben Cabango’s goal but Jones will always remember his first league start at the Stadium of Light in front of over 43k supporters having played in front of a significantly smaller crowd in the FA Cup against Stoke City in January.

“I found out yesterday in training and I didn't really process it at the time,” Jones told The Echo after the game against Swansea City. “It took me a bit later when I was just driving home and think wow, I’m playing for Sunderland tomorrow, so just other coaching staff told me, said that I deserved it, so I was just trying to emulate that on the pitch.

“I was probably much more excited this time compared to the Stoke game, the FA Cup game, because I was probably more nervous for that one, first-ever start for Sunderland, and even though there'd be a much bigger crowd today, I felt more excited rather than nervous, which yeah, I really enjoyed it.”

Asked about the reception from the crowd and what it meant to him, Jones said: “Yeah definitely, as I said, being in the crowd myself, I just think it's important that the fans see us giving 100 per cent, which we are day in, day out and we want to get promoted just as much as we thought they are.”

When questioned as to whether his playing for the club’s first team had sunk in yet, Jones added: “Not yet to be fair, obviously I'm not like the biggest thinker, I'm not a big over-thinker, I think it's probably sometimes bad being a football over-thinker, I think it's better off just take the punches and just do your best. There's no point stressing over things you can't control and yeah, just really proud to play for Sunderland.”

What Régis Le Bris said after the Swansea City game

Le Bris said he was disappointed with Sunderland’s performance against Swansea City but insists that the bigger picture is getting his squad ready for the play-off campaign.

Sunderland struggled to create chances at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon and fell to a 1-0 defeat as a result of Cabango’s goal in the second half. The Black Cats improved late on after the introduction of Enzo Le Fee and Eliezer Mayenda, but were unable to muster any significant openings.

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Le Bris said his team have to improve but believes the slightly disjointed performances are an inevitable consequence of the rotation he feels is vital for the end-of-season fixtures. "It's a disappointing result, especially at home," Le Bris said. "We expect more. We wanted to win but it wasn't possible, we had a lot of the ball but we didn't create many chances. It was difficult to build up under their pressure, they were well organised and to be fair it wasn't easy to find a solution. We didn't find a good rhythm.

"I think we can find different reasons for our performance but I think probably the first is that in this period, it's important to manage the squad. We have to refresh some players, so for example so we're not rushing the process with Enzo. This option gives you a chance for Harrison, and a first league start is an experience you have to learn from. We are in this period with a specific goal at the end of the season. We want to win every game but we want to manage the squad, to build gradually the best shape of the squad so they are available [for the play-offs]. And during that time, we give young players opportunities to grow.”

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