Sunderland under-21s returned to action on Friday night in the Premier League 2 against Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light.
The two teams played out a draw on Wearside but Nottingham Forest arguably should have won the game after hitting the woodwork twice and squandering several chances. The point saw Sunderland move into the top 12 of the Premier League 2 after Wolves were defeated on the same night.
Trey Ogunsuyi and Ahmed Abdullahi were absent with injuries as Graeme Murty named a youthful side against Forest. The Sunderland U21s lead coach selected Ben Middlemas and Oli Bainbridge in his starting XI, with Harrison Jones and Tom Lavery missing out, suggesting involvement with Régis Le Bris’ first team for the trip to West Brom on Saturday.
Nottingham Forest were unlucky not to take the lead twice in the opening minutes as Zayn Blake raced through only to be denied one-on-one with Kelechi Chibueze, who seconds later sold Cuba Mitchell short with a bad pass which nearly resulted in the opener.
Mitchell registered Sunderland’s first attempt in target after 17 minutes after Rhys Walsh found Jaydon Jones, seconds later, Jack Whittaker saw a superb long-range effort saved by George Murray-Jones. After a nasty collision with Jaydon Jones later in the half, goalkeeper Murray-Jones was replaced by Keehan Willows with the game stopped for several minutes following the incident. Whittaker again came close for Sunderland during five minutes of injury time.
At half-time, Nottingham Forest opted for a double substitution. Jamie Newton came on for Jack Nadin with Frank Evans replacing Jimmy Sinclair. Jaydon Jones looked to get Sunderland moving after the break, flashing a shot over the bar in the 46th minute. Mitchell tested Forest’s replacement goalkeeper with a decent effort before Ben Hammond fired a shot over for the visitors. Blake hit the post for Forest on 67 minutes after a superb run and shot.
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Murty brought on Bayley Hester for his Sunderland under-21 debut after his summer move from Southampton with Mitchell giving way for the winger. For Forest, Justin Hanks came on for Adam Berry with three minutes left on the clock. Nine minutes of added time were announced to the Stadium of Light crowd as Walsh blasted over. Marcus Neill was brought on for Walsh after Forest once again hit the woodwork.
Murty’s side were sitting 13th in the table coming into the game against Forest, just one point outside the top 12 - a position that would secure a spot in next season’s Premier League International Cup. A top-16 finish would also guarantee qualification for the end-of-season play-offs. After the draw, Sunderland moved up to 12th position with two games to go. Sunderland also host Tottenham Hotspur at Eppleton on Monday night before wrapping up their campaign with an away fixture against Aston Villa on Friday, April 11.
Here, James Copley rates each of Sunderland’s players against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League 2:
