The young defender catching the eye behind the scenes at Sunderland this season

Sunderland were without five senior centre-backs for their Papa John's Trophy semi final win over Lincoln City on Wednesday evening and for a youngster catching the eye behind the scenes, that meant a place in the matchday squad for only the second time.

Patrick Almond was part of the group when Sunderland lost 2-1 at Fleetwood in the final group game of the contest, and his form in the U23 set up has continued to impress since then.

The 17-year-old has been part of a side whose results have improved considerably this season and Lee Johnson believes he can have a bright future at the club.

"It's what we want and it's a great experience for him to be around the boys, to see the manager at half time getting quite aggressive, but for the right reasons and to be demanding more," Johnson said.

"For him to be around the senior players, getting advice from people like Bailey Wright.

"He's a player that we've identified who could have a bright future as long as his attitude remains positive.

"He's actually a beast physically, you look at his calves and he's verging on a rugby player physique. The challenge for him is actually to keep him slim as much as possible.

“But he has footballing ability and he set up a really good goal for Josh Hawkes in the U23s game against Middlesbrough on Monday.

"So he's definitely the kind of player that we want to encourage and nurture moving forward."

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