Sunderland loanee brought back to club as Black Cats to consider 'next steps'

Sunderland defender Oliver Bainbridge has returned to Wearside following the conclusion of his loan stint with Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock.

The 19-year-old completed a temporary move north of the border in August, and would go on to make nine appearances across all competitions, including starts against Celtic at Celtic Park, Rangers at Ibrox, and Norwegian outfit Tromso in the Europa Conference League.

Speaking about his debut for Killie - which came at Celtic - earlier in the season, Bainbridge told Sunderland’s in-house media: “[It was] A bit of a mad weekend. Friday, drove up, signed. Saturday, trained a little bit with the lads, met everyone and then got asked if it was all right to start against Celtic on the Sunday. Obviously said yes, turned up to 60,000. Good experience, not the result we wanted, but as a first professional start I couldn't ask for a better experience.

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“It was interesting to actually hear the noise. I think, especially in academies, you go to a ground and the most you're getting, maximum, is like a thousand, depending on where you're going. But to actually hear the impact, there's a real benefit from playing at home and then away ties. It becomes more difficult when there's a lot of fans sort of giving you a bit of abuse on the sidelines. The way that it can affect games as well is interesting - especially when you go 1-0 down at a place like that, it's very difficult to get out of it.”

Addressing the full-back’s return to his parent club, Black Cats academy manager Robin Nicholls said: "The time with Kilmarnock has been excellent for Oli. It was an incredibly difficult challenge for him to go to such a big club for his first loan but we have been really impressed with how he has faced it.

"He returns with the experience of having played in a European competition, faced Celtic and Rangers in the SPL in front of almost 60,000 and 45,000 spectators respectively, and the general challenges of integrating into a new squad and new area of the UK. We will take this January period to re-integrate him within the club and consider the next steps on his journey. ”

For the time being, Bainbridge is expected re-join Graeme Murty's U21s squad ahead of Monday's Premier League Cup clash with Huddersfield Town.