Kristjaan Speakman wants Sunderland to be an 'open door' for young stars

At 15 years and 203 days old, Chris Rigg became the youngest outfield player to feature for Sunderland in the club’s entire history when he came off the bench against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Black Cats have prioritised giving youth a chance under sporting director Speakman, signing several starlets from different leagues during the last couple of windows.

Speakman told safc.com: “We’ve taken some young players from different leagues and different continents. You’ve got to give them a little bit of an opportunity to acclimatise around the culture and the environment.

“What we want to try and do is integrate them into the team and it is getting the balance between developing young players and having a team that is competitive and wins games. Sometimes it is a really difficult conundrum to achieve.

“We’re really pleased with Tony (Mowbray) and the staff at the minute whereby we have seen those players be involved in the games. Involved in important games, moments and victories.”

Speakman continued: “What we have got to try and do with those younger ones is to try and give them more of an opportunity. But they have also got to be driving the standard and earning the right to get in the team.

“Whilst we want to be an open door to those players getting an opportunity, they have to be training and working at a level to knock somebody else out of what has been a very good team.”