Sunderland coach explains what he wants to see from Nectar Triantis and Hemir after praising summer signings

Sunderland Under-21s boss Graeme Murty says Hemir and Nectarios Triantis have shown the right attitude when stepping down to play for the club’s under-21s side.

The two summer signings, who are both 20, have made multiple appearances for the young Black Cats this season and started during a 2-1 win over Peterborough Under-21s in the Premier League Cup on Monday.

“Their attitudes are great,” Murty told the Echo when asked about Hemir and Triantis after the match. “They are nice to work with, they are good with the boys, they hold the boys to high standards.

“They are very receptive to coaching points, they are very receptive to tactical points, they are really good to work with and are really, really hard on themselves. I wish sometimes they would give themselves a bit of credit for the good things they do because they definitely castigate themselves when they do something wrong in their own eyes.

“If they were a little bit easier on themselves possibly they might not have got to the level that they are at but I would like to see them take a little bit of pressure off themselves and enjoy the things they’ve done well, but as footballers and as people we tend to focus on the negatives. I would like to get rid of that part of it and just focus on some good things they did today.”

Sunderland’s win over Peterborough, courtesy of Henry Fieldson’s stoppage-time winner, gave Murty’s side their first win in this year’s Premier League Cup, following a 3-2 defeat against Tottenham in August.

“I think it was a good tussle with two teams going at it as hard as they possibly could,” said Murty after the Peterborough match. “It was a bruising and physical game but the fellas found a way to come through and win so I’m pleased for them in that regard.”

“We know that in most of the elements of the game we have been better and can be better so we should never allow the fact that we’ve won the game to take away from the fact that we still demand high standards.”