Mike Dodds would have struggled to come up with many positives at the full-time whistle of Sunderland’s 5-1 Championship defeat to Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday, with the Black Cats trounced on their own patch in humiliating fashion.
Seasoned first-team faces such as Daniel Ballard, Luke O’Nien and Patrick Roberts all came away from the contest as woefully underperforming, Roberts notably poor on his return back in the first-team with zero shots managed to try and help his side restore some of their wounded pride.
It’s even more worrying that the only real shining light was 16-year-old Chris Rigg from a Sunderland perspective, the highly regarded teenager bagging a consolation strike in the 5-1 defeat to at least raise a brief smile on some of the faces of the hardened home supporters at the Stadium of Light.
The dire Championship outfit will keep their fingers crossed that this fellow Academy product can come good in the senior set-up soon alongside Rigg, with the 19-year-old star in question arguably now outgrowing the U21 side based off his recent electric performances.
Harrison Jones’ numbers at youth level
Last time out in Premier League 2 action, Harrison Jones would help himself to two goals and an assist as the U21s convincingly saw off Leicester City 4-2.
This standout display from the 19-year-old would see Sunderland Echo journalist James Copley wax lyrical about the young gem after the game, stating that Jones isn’t ‘far from’ a first-team start and handed him a further 9/10 rating for his sublime display.
This wasn’t just a fluke one-off performance from the 19-year-old midfielder, however, who has many admirers in the youth set-up at Sunderland currently with five goals and an assist from 15 Premier League 2 games this campaign.
One of Jones’ U21 coaches in John Hewitson would even describe the hotshot as a “diamond” recently, who possesses “fantastic technical ability”.
No doubt Jones will be knocking on Dodds’ door for some opportunities imminently in the senior fold if the men’s team continue to crash and burn, potentially becoming an understudy to a returning Jack Clarke if everything slots into place.
He’ll be more keen to follow in the footsteps of Rigg in the immediate future, however, who has taken the Championship by storm at points this season despite still only being 16.
Jones is the next Rigg
Dodds will be willing to test out Jones if his approach involving Rigg is anything to go by, with the interim Black Cats boss handing the homegrown product seven appearances in the league since taking over from Michael Beale.
Rigg has more than repaid his manager’s faith in return, slotting home an opportunity against the Riversiders but also showing himself to be a lively nuisance away from just that goal finding the back of the Blackburn net.
The three-time England U18 international would roll up his sleeves against Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City last month, winning seven duels as a steely presence to move away from his unassuming presence as a wide-eyed youngster.
Jones will take inspiration from Rigg’s effortless transition to the cut and thrust of second tier football, and if Dodds does decide to make the changes for Sunderland’s next match against Bristol City, he could well gift yet another exciting academy prospect in the form of Jones a platform to impress.
