International manager praises Sunderland's style after selecting Black Cats defender for Euro qualifiers

Wales boss Rob Paige has praised Sunderland defender Niall Huggins after handing the full-back his first senior international call-up.

Huggins, 22, has started the last 10 Championship fixtures for his club side and been named in Wales' 23-man squad for their decisive European qualifying matches against Armenia (Saturday, November 18) and Turkey (Tuesday, November 21). With the top two teams set to qualify from Group D, Page’s side sit second, level on points with third-place Croatia, ahead of their final two fixtures.

When asked about Huggins, who has previously played for Wales' under-21s team, Paige said: "I really like Niall. I have done for a while. He's athletic. He's playing with a young team. I like how they play. Full of energy. He can play both sides for us. How we play I think he suits us. He fits in with how we want to play really well."

Huggins signed for Sunderland from Leeds in 2021 but has suffered multiple injury setbacks over the last two years. The defender has played as a right-back and a left-back this season and scored the Black Cats' opening goal in a 2-0 win over Watford at the Stadium of Light in October.

A handful of Sunderland players have been called up by their countries for this month's international break, with Trai Hume and Dan Ballard part of Northern Ireland’s senior squad. Nectarios Triantis has been called up to play for Australia’s under-23s side, while Nazariy Rusyn is on the standby list ahead of Ukraine's decisive European qualifying match against Italy.