Why Isaac Lihadji's started Sunderland U21s fixture as Cats coach reacts to Derby County draw

The 20-year-old Frenchman has made one Championship appearance off the bench since moving to Wearside on an initial two-and-a-half-year contract from Lille in January.

Lihadji looked bright as he played 68 minutes for Sunderland’s under-21s side at Eppleton CW, with the game finishing 1-1 after Harry Gardiner’s second-half opener was cancelled out by Sonny Blu Lo-Everton 89th-minute equaliser.

When asked about Lihadji’s involvement after the match, Sunderland boss Graeme Murty told the Echo: “He needs minutes and needed to play.

“He was given the option by the manager and said yeah he wanted to come and play to get nice and sharp.

“It was brilliant having him, I’ve not really seen a great deal of him. I thought for the first 25 minutes their left-back was going to have a hard, hard time.

“He looks fantastic and comfortable with the ball, and as he starts to become more comfortable in our environment we’ll be able to communicate a little bit better with him.

“It really benefits our players to see that, not just the capacity and technical level, but also the desire to come and play and it’s a really positive affirmation for our players.”

This was the second consecutive match where Sunderland’s under-21s side have conceded a late equaliser, after letting a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at Southampton earlier this month.

“That’s two in two games now where we’ve deserved to win the game and come away with a point rather than three,” Murty added.

“As I’ve said to the players these are really, really valuable lessons in their careers moving forward.

“If they experience the frustration and the hurt from not getting what you think you deserve for the effort that you put in then you work that much harder to try and put it right.

“We take the lessons from it and make sure we reinforce the things that we did well because there were lots of things we did well.”