'Took their opportunity..': Everything Mel Reay said on academy breakthroughs and Sunderland's strong form

Sunderland extended their unbeaten start to the campaign on Wednesday night, beating Sheffield United 3-2 in their first Conti Cup group fixture.

It was another encouraging night for Mel Reay's side, after the head coach rotated her side heavily by making eight changes to the starting XI.

The Black Cats return to league action on Sunday afternoon when they face Reading on home turf (2pm KO) - and here's every word from Reay's press conference with The Echo...

ON THE WIN AGAINST SHEFFIELD UNITED

Mel Reay: "I was delighted with the performance and the result.

"I said to the players when I announced the team that they'd been really patient in waiting for a chance to showcase what they can contribute to the team, and I thought there were really good performances.

"I think it's fair to say we've got more depth now, though in some cases those players are very young. But they've got qualities [we can use] and they've certainly got very bright futures at the club. I was really happy to be able to able to rotate the squad and see that we were still competitive.

"It's a nice feeling, we're full of confidence. Those were on the bench and in the stands last night were fully behind the XI on the pitch and that was really nice to see. I thought the togetherness was really evident."

ON DEBUTS FOR ACADEMY PRODUCTS MARY CORBYN AND EMILY CASSAP - WITH CORBYN SCORING THE WINNER IN THE SECOND HALF

MR: "We know a lot more about Emily because she's been in our pathway from a young age. She represents her country at youth level and has captained her country. She's got unbelievable potential, a really good technician.

"She's still only 17 and has to develop physically but those 45 minutes are going to be really valuable - she felt like she had worked really hard and so it's giving her that understanding of the demands of the game and the level.

"We were delighted for Mary, she was a bit of an unknown and came on trial for our academy side this summer. Steph [Libbey] knows her because she's from down her neck of the woods in Redcar, and she is absolutely lightning fast. She's the fastest person at the club in the women's section, she is raw and needs more coaching but she can come on and win games for us.

"She scored a hat-trick for the U23s team last Sunday and she is one of many who comes over to train with us on a Thursday, so we can integrate them and let them see what it's all about.

"I was delighted to get them on at half time and sometimes it is just a case of 'go on, see what you can do'. They certainly took their opportunity.

"Mary is a kickboxer by trade, but she's an athlete and you have to be at this level, you to be able to match the physical demands. If we can get the tactical and technical side to match... we'll use her when the moment is right but she has to learn her trade with the U23s at the same time."

ON DEADLINE-DAY SIGNING MOLLIE ROUSE'S FULL DEBUT - WHICH WAS MARKED WITH HER FIRST GOAL FOR THE CLUB

MR: "Mollie was excellent, I watched the game back this morning and watched her individual clips. She was really good, tidy, played smart passes.

"She had a great opportunity to score just before she actually did, a really good bit of movement to get 1-v-1. She then scored a good goal from distance, it was a really good performance from start to finish from her."

ON LAST SUNDAY'S 1-1 DRAW AWAY AT BIRMINGHAM CITY

MR: "There were moments in the first half where we played probably the best football we've played all season. We had maybe a 25-minute spell when we were dominant, moving the ball around and controlling the game - and were able to get the goal That's what we're trying to work towards, trying to extend those periods for longer in games.

"The game will always swing, you'll always have moments where you feel under the cosh but I thought we had really good moments to win the game. They hit the bar three times but I think you saw from the XG that we had the better chances."

ON THE CHALLENGE POSED BY READING AT EPPLETON THIS SUNDAY

MR: "They've had some good results, they've certainly got players who can punish us.

"They are below us in the table as you say and if we can find a way to win, we'll pull further away from that pack towards the bottom. The flipside is that if we don't prepare properly and we don't turn up on the day, it's a real banana skin for us. The players have to be really consistent with the performances they're producing."

ON A NEW CONTRACT FOR GRACE EDE, WHO WILL TURN PROFESSIONAL WITH THE CLUB NEXT SUMMER

MR: "I think it shows we're headed.

"Grace has been at the club since she was eight years old, she's Sunderland through and through. She didn't want to be anywhere else.

"I keep saying now that it's the full package that we can offer players at the level, it's not just about the opportunities on the pitch - we look after them and that's really important and especially in the modern day game."