Phil Parkinson reveals how he rewarded Sunderland's youngsters for beating Newcastle United

The Black Cats’ second string sealed a first victory in over 600 days last week as they beat the Magpies 4-0 away from home.

And Parkinson was quick to reward some of the star performers in the ‘big victory’ by allowing them to train with Sunderland’s first-team squad late last week.

Parkinson has regularly afforded younger players a chance to train with his senior side during his tenure, with Oliver Younger one of the more recent beneficiaries.

And that policy looks unlikely to stop any time soon, with the Sunderland boss reminding young players that the opportunity for them is there – as long as they seize it.

"I was very pleased the under-23s beat Newcastle on Monday,” he said, speaking to safc.com.

"That was a big victory for the club – not just because it’s Newcastle – but because everyone knows we’ve struggled to get results at that level.

"We’ve tried to strengthen the team up and that [result] gave everybody a spring in their step at the academy when we came back in on Thursday.

"The players who did well in that game, a few of them trained with the first-team and I think that crossover is really important.

"We want the players in that group to push into the first-team squad and if they play well and perform well and train well when they come over with us, they’ve got a chance to stay there.”

Sunderland’s under-23 side face Sheffield United at the Academy of Light this afternoon.

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