How Elliot Embleton reacted after being left out of Jack Ross' Sunderland squad to face Portsmouth

Sunderland under-23s manager Elliot Dickman has praised Elliot Embleton for his attitude despite his side surrendering the lead in a 2-1 home loss to Norwich in the Premier League 2.
How Elliot Embleton reacted to being left out of Jack Ross' squad to face Portsmouth yesterday.How Elliot Embleton reacted to being left out of Jack Ross' squad to face Portsmouth yesterday.
How Elliot Embleton reacted to being left out of Jack Ross' squad to face Portsmouth yesterday.

Lee Connelly put the young Black Cats ahead before Norwich replied with goals from Louis Lomas and Gassan Ahande, turning the tie on its head and leaving the under-23s without a win from their opening two league games.

Embleton - who started Sunderland’s opening game of the season against Oxford at the Stadium of Light - didn’t make Jack Ross’ bench for yesterday’s 2-1 win over potential promotion rivals Portsmouth.

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Instead, the 20-year-old Durham-born got the nod to start for Dickman’s youth team alongside sporadic first-teamers Benji Kimpioka and Bali Mumba

Dickman, however, was delighted with the youngster’s attitude in the face of disappointment, insisting Embleton is just desperate to play football.

“Elliot takes everything in his stride,” Dickman explained to the Sunderland Echo. “He’s really one of these players who is driven and wants to improve and do better.

“He wants to play football at the end of the day, which is very good from our point of view.

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“Embleton was with the first team yesterday but didn’t make the bench so he’s actually asked the manager whether he can play and get a bit of game time today.

“The manager has backed him with that and fair play to Elliot for wanting to have a bit of game time,” Dickman concluded.