Sunderland prospect explains Corry Evans support, pre-season hopes and how he’s improved

Sunderland under-21s player Harrison Jones says he’s learnt a great deal both on and off the pitch this season and hopes he can earn more first-team opportunities next term.

The 19-year-old was a key player for the Black Cats’ under-21s side during the 2023/24 campaign, with Graeme Murty’s team reaching the final of Premier League 2. Jones was also called up to Sunderland’s senior squad for two Championship matches against Southampton and QPR in March, while he’s gained advice from more experienced players such as Dan Neil, Corry Evans and Alex Pritchard.

“Obviously it was a great moment to feature on the bench twice and that’s the start hopefully,” Jones, a boyhood Sunderland fan, explained. “Hopefully I’ll keep getting in the squad and hopefully minutes on the pitch, that’s obviously the goal. Following people like Dan Neil, just following in their footsteps and keep learning.

“Corry, who has just left, I did lots of analysis with him last year which has probably helped me playing in deeper positions. Giving me his understanding of the game has definitely helped me out of possession especially. Before he left, Pritchard helped me in attacking ways so I think just constant learning has helped me improve.”

“It’s just if you want to get them involved you just have to go up and ask them which can be scary at times, but once you break that initial barrier of communication it’s just great. Senior players especially just want to help the younger players, which I’m really grateful for.”

Jones has played in different positions for the under-21s side, moving from the No 10 spot into a deeper midfield role towards the end of the campaign. The teenager has also been helped by analyst Josh Goodfellow, who compiles clips for under-21s players of their performances.

Asked about the biggest things he’s learnt this season, Jones replied; “Obviously getting things wrong, I think that’s where you get most of your learning from. A lot of thanks to Josh who does our analysis, who has gone into pretty much every part of my game with Murts and almost reconstructed me into an elite player as I would say. Josh gets all our individual clips up and we’ll go through them with Murts sometimes.

“I think off the pitch I’ve become more of a man,” he added. “I’ve moved away from home, got my own place, so it’s about living a good lifestyle, cooking, which is tricky at times. On the pitch we have our system and way we play so we don’t change for anyone. It’s having a real understanding of what we do, what it does to the other team and whether that is as a pivot or higher up the pitch, understanding different positions.”

Jones will now hope to be part of Sunderland’s first-team squad during pre-season, which will start with two friendly matches against South Shields and Gateshead on Saturday, July 13.

“Obviously that’s what I’d like,” Jones replied when asked about potentially being part of the first-team squad for the aforementioned fixtures. “You never know until you get called up and all I can do is focus on myself and things will work out.”