Sunderland star Trai Hume tipped to 'amass a lot of caps' by international manager Michael O'Neill

Sunderland right-back Trai Hume has been tipped to "amass a lot of caps" for Northern Ireland by manager Michael O'Neill.

Hume recently extended his contract at the Stadium of Light to 2027 with the option of a further year on top. The 21-year-old was also called up to the Northern Ireland squad this week with O'Neill remarking on his versatility.

“The great thing about Trai is that I’ve seen him in a number of positions for Sunderland," said O'Neill. Trai is very flexible; he can play on the left if you need him to play there, he can play on the right.

“He predominantly plays right-back for Sunderland, but I’ve also seen him play towards the end of the season as a centre-back, which was a big ask because he wasn’t playing with a dominant centre-back wither, he was the most dominant one with Luke O’Nien as both Danny Batth and Daniel [Ballard] were both injured.

“I think Conor (Bradley has maybe more in his locker than just us seeing him as a right-back. The decision for me in the previous two games was that we played with a back three and I had seen Conor play consistently as a right wing-back for Bolton.

“Trai had played as a right-back or a left-sided centre-back in a three, but I see two very young players who I’d be very surprised if they don’t amass a lot of caps for Northern Ireland."

Northern Ireland will play Denmark away and Khazakstan at home as they bid to qualify for the European Championships.