'Works his socks off' - Sunderland figure hails 'wholehearted' starlet after U21s debut vs Sheffield United

Sunderland U21s assistant coach John Hewitson has heaped praise on teenage midfielder Jaydon Jones after he made his debut for Graeme Murty’s side in Friday night’s 1-0 Premier League Cup defeat against Sheffield United.

The 17-year-old made the step up from U18 level for the first time, and looked largely at home in the middle of the park, operating in a deeper role behind older brother and U21s captain Harrison Jones. Indeed, the younger Jones came within inches of a providing an assist for a late equaliser at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground, firing a ball into Trey Ogunsuyi that ultimately drew a superb save from Blades goalkeeper Luke Faxon.

But despite Sunderland succumbing to an opening day defeat in the competition, Hewitson saw plenty of reasons for optimism in the Black Cats’ display, including Jones’ performance. Speaking after the final whistle, he said: “There were definitely lots of positives. Individually, it was great to see some of the individuals coming through that haven't played, particularly games in the past few weeks. Cuba [Mitchell] started the game, Jenson [Jones] started the game, some of our younger under-18s moved up. Jaydon Jones made his debut for the under-21s, and then the bench was littered with under-18s, so that was good.

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“But in terms of performances, I thought Tommy Watson did quite well. At times, he was unplayable, and at times they doubled up on him, if not trebled up on him. Harrison Jones showed some flashes of excellence at times. I know some people can be down when we get beat, and everyone wants to win, but there were certainly many, many positives, I would say, from tonight.

“Jaydon's wholehearted, honest. He'll work his absolute socks off. He's very open-minded, he's a listener, and he takes things on board, which we really like in a character. Like I say, he's only a second-year scholar, only 17, so he's got plenty of time, and hopefully these experiences will add to his knowledge and help him grow as a footballer.”

Last month, Jones’ older sibling - the aforementioned Harrison - was handed his first team debut by Regis Le Bris, coming on from the bench to make a 20 minutes cameo in the EFL Cup first round defeat at the hands of Preston North End.