Sunderland are yet to taste defeat in the Championship across December, with Black Cats fans hopeful of even more festive cheer after Christmas when Regis Le Bris’ men travel to Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day.
Recent wins against Swansea City and Norwich City has shown a battling side to the Wearside outfit, with Sunderland having to fight back to pick up both of those victories after the opposition had initially opened the scoring.
Jobe Bellingham scored in both of those dramatic contests mentioned, as the 19-year-old continues to star for the promotion chasers ahead of a January transfer window that will see him be linked incessantly with a move away from the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland’s best youngsters
Bellingham will be content with just letting his football do the talking for the time being away from any wild transfer rumours beginning to circulate, having now scored four times this season in the Championship on top of picking up a further three assists.
The on-fire Sunderland number 7 is simply becoming a man for the big occasion, so he will be crucial for his side’s ongoing promotion chances, with an ice-cold finish last time out securing his team a slim 2-1 win over the Canaries.
Away from Bellingham, other youngsters are excelling under the tutelage of Le Bris too, including Chris Rigg who has three strikes to shout about himself in league action.
He actually set up Bellingham’s winner when Sunderland heroically salvaged three points in Wales before Norwich came to town, with Rigg no doubt also being a wanted man this January.
Le Bris will know there’s plenty more top young talent across the Sunderland ranks, away from just these two glowing examples, with this academy product potentially gearing up for more senior opportunities soon after just signing a new extended deal at his boyhood club.
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Sunderland’s next Bellingham
The young player in question here is Harrison Jones, who will hope he can become Sunderland’s next iteration of Bellingham, with the 19-year-old equally as effective in front of goal for the club’s U21s as the Black Cats number seven has been in the Championship.
Even now donning the captain’s armband while playing in his age bracket, Jones will believe he’s more than ready for the step-up to the men’s team, based on his terrific numbers to date playing youth football.
|
Jones’ numbers for Sunderland (youth level) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games |
Goals scored |
Assists |
|
24/25 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
|
23/24 |
23 |
7 |
1 |
|
21/22 |
16 |
1 |
6 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|||
This season, he has accumulated a mightily impressive five goal contributions from just eight league clashes, actually surpassing Rigg’s own tally by one, even as he plays week in week out in the senior fold.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Jones can hack it at the same level Rigg is now well adjusted to, but the 19-year-old has already begun to be a face Le Bris has named on the substitutes bench here and there in the hustle and bustle of the second tier.
Indeed, Jones has been among the substitutes a colossal nine times this campaign, with his first-ever senior appearance also coming this season in the EFL Cup.
It wouldn’t be the most out-there shout to suggest that Jones will gain minutes in the main team in the Championship soon, therefore, considering one of his former U21 teammates in Tom Watson had been drafted in to play ten times in Le Bris’ side, before injury disaster struck recently.
With his birthday funnily enough falling on Christmas Day, Le Bris could well hand Jones the ultimate late present by gifting him some precious league minutes against Blackburn, kickstarting yet another notable youngster’s first-team journey as a result.
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